Duchess
by DoeV
Summary: Catherine Duke-Dillinger is a daddy's girl that has always had everything done for her but when they move to Charming her entire life changes. At the age of 23 she has to finally learn to grow up when her fathers new business venture goes up in smoke. But maybe she will realise you don't need to live in Hollywood to have fun, with the help of a biker or two, of course.
1. Prologue

**Duchess – Prologue**

"We should get rooms at the next motel!" Jax shouted to his men over the rain and roar of motorcycles.

The men grumbled in response, ducking their heads closer to their chests as they made their way through the rain. The flickering green light of a vacancy sign was like a beacon of hope in the storm and they made a bee line for it. As the thunder roared overhead they pulled into the parking lot. Bobby whistled in appreciation for the three shiny cars parked on the far side of the motel. There was a shiny black Range Rover that had obviously never been off road in its entire life; a small silver convertible Porsche and a bright red Lamborghini. The paint jobs were so clean that their headlights shone back at them as they parked.

"I wonder who these belong too," Bobby said, not bothered about the rain anymore.

"Probably that rich girl in there," Chibs chuckled.

Happy looked into the reception area where a small blonde woman was stood, tapping her foot impatiently as she spoke to the disinterested motel employee behind the desk. The closer they got to the door, the more they could hear her voice. She was complaining about the cleanliness of her room and bedsheets.

"-sleepwear is Chanel!" she ranted, "do you even know what that means?"

The man behind the desk looked up as the four men walked through the door. He had an expression on his face that suggested he had been subjected to this for a long time and was pleading with them for help but Jax just shrugged and folded his arms.

"It means," the woman continued, "that I am not paying for my room until I get some sheets that aren't ridden with bed bugs and… heaven knows what else!"

She threw her arms up dramatically and then folded them again, still tapping her foot against the cheap linoleum floor. She hadn't even turned when the guys walked in and Jax shot Happy an amused look as they took in her bedraggled appearance. She had some fluffy pink sandals on her feet but the fur had been drenched where she had obviously been treading in puddles and walking in the rain. Upon closer inspection, her shiny blonde hair was hanging limply around her shoulders and her silk robe was darker around the shoulders where the rain had hit it.

"Look," the man behind the desk sighed, "I can give you sheets but the housekeeper won't be in until 1:30 tomorrow afternoon."

"You're expecting me to change my own sheets? What kind of place is this?"

"You are paying $5 for the night. What do you expect?"

The woman scoffed as the long suffering man put some "clean" sheets on the grimy desk and slid her key back over to her. She took them with another scoff and spun around to leave but jumped back into the desk when she saw the four men then shuddered when she realised where her silk robe had brushed against. Happy watched with amusement as she looked up at them with a disgruntled look on her face but the wide, grey eyes betrayed her fear of the tall, leather clad men.

"Let me get the door for you Lass," Chibs said with humour in his voice, "I can tell you've had a trying day."

She looked up at him thankfully with those wide, doe eyes and nodded as tears welled up in them, making her eyes look even bigger and so innocent that it was hard to believe she had just been chewing out the receptionist. She was just about through the door to go back into the rain when Bobby caught her forearm, pulling her to his chest.

"You want me to make you feel better?" he leered at her and she visibly wretched, dropping her sheets and blankets.

"I," she said spitefully, the crocodile tears all dried up, "would literally rather die."

The guys laughed and Happy let himself smile slightly at her rebuff of his brother.

She wrenched her arm out of his grip, realised that she had dropped the sheets and stamped her foot with a quiet shriek of anger. As she stormed out of the reception she screamed "Daddy!" causing them all to laugh again. Bobby ducked his head back out into the rain and shouted after her.

"I'll be your Daddy, darlin'!"

They heard her shriek again.

Later that night, Happy had been kept awake by his roommates snoring and couldn't stop the itching that came from being in a bed that probably hadn't been changed since the motel was built. He understood what the girl meant by bedbugs and whatever else was on the sheets. Bobby hadn't seemed to care and had settled into sleep quickly.

The rain had stopped outside so he decided he would get away from Bobby's snoring and take a walk in the fresh air, hoping that perhaps the cold would make him feel tired. As soon as the air hit him he knew he wouldn't be getting any sleep that night, regardless of how much he walked around. The sound of a dog barking caught his attention so he decided to follow the noise only to see the girl now fully clothed in tight blue jeans, beige high heels and a white top that sort of floated in the night air. She was also holding a small hairy creature that is the opposite of what Happy would call a dog. This thing was more like a hairy rat or, equally, a fancy dress wig with legs. She was stamping her foot in anger and whining as she bashed weakly on the window of the vending machine where a bag of chips was hung suspended from its hook. It just wasn't her day, Happy thought with a small smile as she huffed and hitched the hairy thing up higher. She had obviously decided that it wasn't worth the trouble and turned to leave.

Mildly annoyed at the waste of a dollar, Happy stalked over and kicked the vending machine harshly; making the lights inside flicker. It took two times until the chips fell down into the bottom of the machine where he dipped his hand into the too small door to get them out for her. when he looked up to call her back, he saw that she was already looking at him with those wide eyes and clutching the thing to her chest tightly.

"Here," he said gruffly and held the bag out to her.

The girl was stood frozen in the middle of the path before blinking and jumping into action. She walked slowly over to him, with her hand outstretched and watching him just as closely as he was watching her. The bag was snatched out of his hand quickly, the sudden movement causing the dog thing to start yapping again.

"Shh, Romeo," she hushed the dog then nodded to him once, "thank you, sir."

Nobody had ever called him sir before, not seriously anyway and he kind of liked it. He gave her a small smile and nodded back to her. Her voice had lost all notion of the brattiness she was showing before but had now turned innocent and kind of scared.

"Catherine?!" a male voice shouted from across the parking lot, "are you still there?"

"Yes Daddy!" the girl shouted and turned to walk away towards the open door.

Before she went into the room, the girl cast one more curious and mildly frightened look back at the biker. Happy was watching her with just as much curiosity until the door was closed behind her. When Happy turned back to the machine, he realised that the lights had gone out and the display screen was flashing nonsensical words. Without even thinking, he punched the glass until it shattered and grabbed some chocolate bars and bags of chips for the guys.

Even with his stomach full of potato and chocolate he couldn't sleep but kept thinking back to those big grey eyes and sweet voice calling him sir and he smiled. It was a shame he would never see her again.


	2. Chapter 1 - Poor Little Rich Girl

Chapter 1 – Poor Little Rich Girl

I had never thrown a fit like the one I had thrown when Daddy told me that we had to move away from all of my friends and family. I threw my phone and shattered it, I cried until my eyes were red and puffy, I screamed and stomped my feet but nothing would convince him to quit his job.

"This is a very important business opportunity for Daddy," Mom whimpered, bent over in a slight bow as she rung her hands worriedly, "it'll be good for you to get away from this city for a while."

"Daddy needs to decide who is more important. _Me_ or his business. I know which one _I_ would choose." I snapped as I threw my designer clothes messily into my Gucci suitcases.

I stomped away to my shoe closet and grabbed an armful of Louboutin's to throw them carelessly in another suitcase. Mom and Greta, the housekeeper and my nanny when I was younger, went behind me folding and sorting out all the items I was chucking around. Romeo, my precious Pomeranian, followed me around my room dutifully looking up at me and yapping happily every time I would start to cry again. I stood in the middle of my huge bedroom then fell dramatically onto the bed, throwing my arms around my pillows and crying into them. My makeup had run all over the soft cotton but I didn't care.

"Now, Miss Cat," Greta said gently, coming over and petting my hair gently, "your brother is excited about going to a new town. Why can't you be as enthusiastic as him?"

" _He_ doesn't have any friends!" I cried, " _he's_ got nothing to miss! I've got all my friends and Grannie!"

Greta sighed in that exasperated way that she always did when she thought I was being overly dramatic. I looked up at her through my wet eyelashes and saw that she was looking at me with a small, sad smile. I curled onto my side and cried again. Greta chuckled quietly and ran her hands through my hair like she had done since I was a child.

"Poor Goldilocks," she cooed comfortingly, "maybe you will find peace in Charming? I know I will; there won't be nearly as much traffic to dodge and you might even find yourself a man."

"She is not finding a man full stop," I heard Daddy say from the doorway, "whether it's here or in Charming."

"She isn't a little girl anymore Mr Duke," Greta scolded gently, still stroking my hair and humming softly, "she has to grow up sometime."

I looked up at Daddy stood in the doorway, his broad frame almost filling it, with his arms folded and his eyes looking at me with sympathy. Before I could say anything to him my little brother Jack ran in and started jumping on my bed; almost knocking into Greta and trampling all over me. I screamed at him and tried to stand up to fight him off but he sat on my back and kicked his feet so that I couldn't move my arms. Jack was 15 and already a lot taller and stronger than me. He took after my dad with his height and build whereas I was definitely my mother's daughter.

"Jack," Daddy snapped, "get off of your sister! You are far too big to be doing that now!"

When he fell to the side I finally sat up and threw my pillow at his head, sticking my tongue out before smiling smugly. Daddy was always on my side when it comes to things like this, well, normally he was on my side when it comes to everything but I just couldn't work out how to get him to stop us from moving. Jack stuck his middle finger up at me when our parent's backs were turned and only Greta and I saw him. Greta gasped and scolded him quietly, telling him not to let our father see what he was doing. I had always been Greta's favourite. I had tucked myself against her side with another smug smile towards my brother.

"Come on now Darling," Mom said and scraped the stray hairs away from her face, "you need to help Mommy and Daddy pack before the moving van gets here tomorrow."

I sighed and pulled reluctantly away from Greta. She petted my hair again then stood and showed me how to roll my clothes so that I could fit _way_ more into my suitcase than when I had just thrown it in. She then sat on top of the case while I struggled to zip it up and we laughed, I had almost forgotten why I was packing in the first place. I helped her pack one more suitcase then we moved onto my shoes storage.

"Oh," I gasped, "you think I could do that with my shoes too Greta?"

"What?"

"Like…"

I tried to stuff my shoes in altogether like I had with the clothes. Jack spluttered and called me an idiot for thinking I could roll my shoes up and Daddy scolded him again, telling him to finish his own packing while they helped me. Jack huffed but did as he was told. Daddy passed me some of my clothes and Greta helped my fold while Mom packed another one.

"Remember though Darling," Mom said to me and Daddy, "you still need clothes for the next few days while we are travelling."

"What do you mean?" I asked with a frown, looking up from where I had been trying to zip another suitcase, "I thought the flight was only a couple of hours."

"I've told you Sweetheart," Daddy sighed in the way he always did when I was being dumb, "we can't fly because we need to drive the cars down."

"Why can't the drivers _drive_ the cars?"

He sighed again and looked at Greta with a pointed look, the one he did when he was getting really fed up of my being dumb. I looked at Greta for an explanation. She took my hand in hers and stroked my cheeks kindly, tucking my hair behind my ear.

"I am the only member of staff that is coming with you, little one, your drivers are staying here with their families so you will drive your cute little car with your Romeo, Mr Duke will drive his fancy sports car and Mrs Dillinger will drive her 4x4 with your brother."

I sighed and threw myself across her lap; making her laugh again and stroked my hair gently. Cooing again.

"Life just isn't fair is it, Miss Cat? Poor little rich girl has to drive her own car for a couple of days." She chuckled while I glared at her from beneath my blonde curls.

Driving across the state wasn't quite as bad as I thought it would be; I could blare my music and sing as loud as I wanted without being told to be quiet or that my music choice was hurting anyone's ears. I mean, Romeo probably wasn't very happy but he never said anything about it. He loved his mommy and wouldn't ever do anything to upset me. He kept trying to hang his head out of the window but his legs were way to short and I didn't want to open the window because I wanted to keep him in the car.

Suddenly, my phone started to ring and I jumped; causing me to swerve slightly on the road. Luckily it was empty so the only living creature witnessing my faux pas was Romeo. I turned down Britney Spears and answered the phone call. It was Jack.

"S'up sis!" he said sweetly, "Mom said we are gonna stop at this next motel 'cause Dad is tired and needs a rest."

"What's it called?" I asked, narrowing my eyes trying to look in the distance for lights.

"The Midnight Inn."

I wrinkled my nose at the name. I am definitely going to get murdered in a place called The Midnight Inn. I'm too young and pretty to die though! I tried not to think about the sinking feeling in my stomach as I came up to a sign that said it was only a few kilometres left. When I pulled into the decrepit parking lot, I wretched. It looked _so_ disgusting and I really didn't want to stay the night there.

There was so many cracks on the walls with plants growing out of them. When I looked further down the parking lot I saw an open door that, upon closer inspection, had been kicked in with police tape crossed over the gap. The window to the reception area was so murky it probably hadn't been cleaned ever.

I parked my car next to Daddy's Lambo and let Romeo out to go for a pee and a... you know. I picked it up with the doggie doo doo bag and threw it in the already too full bin in the middle of the parking lot. It was the most random place to put a trash can but, judging by the rest of the place, it wasn't the most well thought out of places. I found my family in the office of the motel. Mom had her arms wrapped around herself with her coat pulled tightly around her body. Daddy was stood with Jack at the desk, asking for their best rooms to which the woman behind the desk was um-ing and ah-ing about the keys. It looked like she just picked out two different keys and gave them to my dad.

The room was about as disgusting as the rest of the place. I had yelled at Daddy for making me stay there but he firmly told me that I had no choice, if I didn't want to drive through the night. There were roaches in the bathroom and bugs in the bed. The carpet had come up at the corners where I'm positive I saw rats. Romeo was having fun chasing the different creatures on the carpet and under the bed. When he came back out, his beautiful brown fur was riddled with bugs and spider webs. I ran to the bathroom to throw up in the toilet but then the sight of the bathroom made me throw up again. I had had quite enough of this disgusting place already so I slipped on my favourite pink feathered sandals. I hadn't even noticed it was raining until I felt the water splash up over the sides and soak my feet.

I bashed on my parents door until Mom answered, looking tired and like she had just woken up. I shouted at her to get Daddy and that I wanted a new room or at least new sheets so I could sleep moderately well. Daddy just shouted that if I wanted to get a new room or new sheets I would have to go and talk to the man myself.

"Fine!" I growled through gritted teeth and stomped across the parking lot towards the office to shout at the man behind the desk.

I don't even remember what I had said, I just shouted at him until he gave me what I wanted. Everything that I had thought about saying was suddenly ripped out of my lungs when I turned around to see four dangerous looking men stood behind me. I didn't mean to fall back against the dirty counter but I couldn't help stumbling back from my fright. It was as if I could feel the decades worth of grime and dirt had seeped through the thin satin of my robe and was now sat against my skin. The bile rose up in my throat again although I'm not entirely sure what I had left to throw up. My feeble attempt at a scary look did nothing to make them move out of my way and I felt myself shrinking under their gaze, feeling so naked and exposed in just my thin night clothes.

I had never been so undressed in front of any man that wasn't my father or brother before and found myself trying to tuck my robe around me. I was about to say something harsh to them all before the man with the funny accent opened the door for me.

"Let me get the door for you Lass. I can tell you've had a trying day."

I made tears come to my eyes and looked up at him with wide eyes, a move I pulled on my dad and his friends all the time when I wanted them to feel sorry for me. He kind of smiled at me behind dark glasses and nodded. I smiled back at him and went to leave but was suddenly grabbed by the big, hairy man. His touch made me shudder and I tried to pull my arm away from him, dropping my new sheets and key in shock. Again, I shrunk away from his heated gaze, trying to hide my body from him with my free arm but feeling scared for my life.

"You want me to make you feel better?" the hairy man said with raised eyebrows causing his other friends to laugh.

"I would _literally_ rather die," I spat in a moment of bravery and pulled my arm away from him only to trip over the fallen sheets as I went through the door.

I bent down to grab my key then screamed for my dad. The big man had said something to me as I walked away but I just shrieked in frustration and stormed over to the room where my dad was staying. When he answered the door, I fell into his arms and cried hard. He led me into the room where Mom sat with me on the bed and I told them all about what had just happened. I might have embellished some details to make it sound more dramatic but not too much; just enough to make it slightly traumatic. I really wanted my dad to feel bad for making me stay in this pig house!

Once I had calmed down Mom sent me back to my room to get some sleep but there was literally no point even trying. Between feeling so hungry I could eat the roach that just crawled across my foot, not really but you get the point, and feeling so sick from the thought of my precious baby being covered in them I couldn't sleep. I just decided to get dressed and just take Romeo out for a walk. It was quiet now so I doubt there was any killers roaming around the parking lot. I know that's what every stupid girl in a horror movie is like but they don't have a ferocious dog to protect them.

As I thought this, Romeo yelped when a rat ran passed him. In his defence, the rodent was about the same size as him. I wasn't going to stay in that room a moment longer.

Outside was quiet. It was almost too quiet but it was a nice break from hearing the creatures scratching in the walls and under the floorboards. I didn't need to leash Romeo; he loved me too much to run away. Besides, there was literally nowhere for him to run too except the deserted road and desert just beyond that. There was mud now in place of the dirt that was there before. My pretty beige Louboutin's got a bit dirty which I would usually be angry about but I was way too tired and hungry to be bothered by them right now. A bit in the distance I saw the holy light that was quite clearly a vending machine. I almost skipped over to it, reaching into my pocket I found a couple of dollars from when we stopped earlier at the service station. Finally my luck was beginning to change!

My hope didn't last too long. I whined and whimpered as I bashed the glass of the vending machine. The stupid chips were stuck. All I wanted was a bag of chips and a bed without insects and a room without rats, was that really too much to ask? I stamped my foot, making the clicking sound echo around the empty motel. I rested my forehead against the glass before giving up and hitching Romeo up on my hip to turn around walk away, apparently not destined to eat those glorious chips that I craved. Suddenly, I heard the loudest crash that ever. It was louder than when I crashed my car into a wall last year.

I whipped around, wide eyed and holding Romeo closer to me. One of the men from the office had kicked the side of the machine with his heavy boot. He looked through the window before grunting while kicking the machine again; causing a chain that was hung from his baggy jeans to jingle slightly. The snack machine tipped onto the opposite corner then landed back flat on the floor with another loud bang. He turned and took a couple of steps towards me with his arm outstretched.

This is it, I thought, this guy is gonna kill me. I am going to die in some gosh forsaken motel in the middle of nowhere.

I was just about to beg for my life and tell him that I was a good, innocent girl. I was a vegetarian for goodness sakes! I had never hurt a fly in my whole life. Not on purpose anyway. Then I realised what he was holding. He didn't have a gun in his hand, like I had thought, but instead there was the bag of chips that I had been craving.

"Here," he said in a gruff, raspy voice and shook the bag slightly.

I stared at his face for a long while before blinking away whatever scared thoughts I had and crept closer to him holding Romeo in one arm while my other was outstretched to take the chips off him. I didn't want to go to close though; he could still grab me and take me away after all. When I grabbed the bag off him, I calmed Romeo who had started yapping happily at him.

"Thank you, Sir," I said, as I would have to any man older than me, and gave him what I hoped was a polite nod.

The man smiled slightly, nodded back and before I could say anything else to him I heard Daddy calling me. I started to walk back to the motel room, Romeo in one arm, bag of chips in the other and turned to give the man one last look. He was staring after me with a small frown on his face.

I tried to memorise his face but I didn't think it would have been hard to recognise him again. More than anything, I think I would remember his really intense, dark eyes. He looked dangerous, I mean he must have been to vandalise a snack machine just so a random girl could have some food, but the way he held himself and the leather waistcoat thing that hung on his shoulders made him look scary too. But his face… he was so good looking but not in the Hollywood way that I was used too. He didn't have the blonde hair and blue eyes with designer clothes and boat shoes, he was a kind of rugged handsome that I had never seen before.

When the morning finally came, I had barely slept at all. I had chosen to sleep in Mom's room since Daddy had chased away most of the bugs and he and Jack went to sleep in my room with all the rats. I decided that maybe jeans would be way too hot for the hot California sun and decided on some little, high-waisted denim shorts instead. Then I thought my top looked wrong so I changed into a floral, lace bralet that probably showed off slightly too much cleavage but it was hot. So sue me, you know?

Mom looked at my outfit with approval, telling me that I looked very grown up. I smiled and threw my curls over my shoulder before making my way outside with my bags in hand and Romeo at my heels.

"Looking very slutty today Catherine," Jack said with a snide laugh.

"Shut up you absolute cretin," I spat back at him as I pressed the button that unlocked my car.

Jack just laughed but kept on pestering me, asking if he could ride with me because Mom was only playing bad music in her car but I waved him away from me. I refused to have him in my car, he had a habit of shouting, "we're gonna die!" and it would throw me off and make me panic. _And_ he was always farting and burping on my leather seats, throwing food and soda all over the place and refused to sit in the back so Romeo couldn't sit shotgun like he usually does.

"Come on Catherine! Please!"

"I said buzz off and leave me alone!" I snapped back at my little brother, getting more and more annoyed with him.

I was then distracted by seeing the only other patrons of the motel sat on a bench across from where my car was parked. They were looking at me with slight open mouths which made me feel slightly uncomfortable under their gaze as I packed my bags into the trunk of my car, making sure my hair covered my blushing cheeks.

"Hey guys!" I heard Jack call and looked up to see him waving at the men.

Three of them looked at him but that one guy kept his eyes on me steadily until he was spoken to directly to by my brother. I looked up at Jack, irritated. Why on earth was he talking to strange men? Doesn't he know that's how you get killed?

"Jack!" I scolded, "don't talk to them! You don't know them!"

"Uh yeah I do," he said in the typical teenage boy 'duh' type of voice, "they are going to Charming too! They're in a motorcycle club, how cool is that?"

"You can't just tell people where you're going! What if they're dangerous?"

I already knew they were dangerous but also considered the benefits of my brother being murdered briefly before shaking the thoughts from my head and stamping my foot on the ground. I couldn't help wondering where my parents had been when my brother was talking to four strange men. Men, I might add, that harassed me yesterday. Ok, _one_ man harassed me yesterday and it wasn't really that bad, but still. I sighed but walked towards him with my arms folded over my chest and took him by the shoulder.

"Sorry about him," I said to the men and dragged my brother away, "he's a worm. Come on Jack, we need to go and find Daddy."

The men laughed and I saw Jack's cheeks go bright red. The big one, the guy who grabbed me yesterday told me he could be my daddy if I wanted him to and I felt sick. The bald guy, the handsome one reached over and punched his friend on the arm as I bit back a rude comment. Jack fought with me, taking his arm away from my grasp. I huffed when he pulled my nail but thankfully it hadn't snapped.

"Hey can I join your club?" Jack asked, "like, as a trainee or whatever."

"Jack," I scoffed and folded my arms, "you can't even drive a car. What do you think you're gonna do on a motorcycle?"

"Well you can't drive either!"

" _Um, yes I can_. I have a licence and a car."

"You broke a man's leg! The only reason you aren't in prison right now is because Dad paid you out and paid the guys off to let you keep your licence."

The bikers were looking between our exchange like they were watching some kind of funny tennis match. When my brother mentioned about the old man I had _accidently_ hurt their eyebrows shot up and all eyes were fixed on me as I huffed and clenched my teeth together. I couldn't let Jack win though, so I put back the only defence I had.

"Well, he shouldn't have been on the road!" I shouted, stamping my foot and leaning towards him with narrowed eyes.

"You should have _been on_ the road!"

"You're _such_ a worm!"

There was a surprised 'oh!' from the bikers and I stood back up straight, waving my arms with a dismissive 'whatever' and went to find my parents. I eventually found them around the back of the motel office, whispering about something probably secretive. Daddy looked up when he heard the sound of my footsteps and they immediately stopped talking. I didn't even care what they were talking about, I just wanted to get back on the road so I could stop sleeping in disgusting motel bedrooms and get into my own bed. I told them what Jack was doing so Daddy marched around the building to grab his son by the back of the neck and pushed him into Mom's Range Rover. With a smug smile at him, I got into my car and Romeo jumped up onto my knee so that he could settle in his little basket on the passenger seat.

Before I closed my door, I caught a glimpse of that intense, dark stare from the good looking man from last night and I couldn't help but wish that I had asked his name. If they really were heading towards Charming, like they told Jack, then I'm sure I'll be seeing them at some point anyway. I couldn't help but feel thrilled at the thought of maybe seeing him again.

 **S'up bitchesssss –** I kind of love Catherine? Like she's a brat and isn't the brightest person in the world but I think she's hiding how confused and vulnerable she is underneath it all. We'll see though, right?

Also, I have decided that I am going to put our lovely Viv in this story later on. If this is the first story that you have read of mine, you don't need to read my other story to get anything- that story won't interfere with this one. I'm not that clever. I just think Viv is such a positive influence on Happy that he would probably talk to her about his feelings?

Kind of obsessed.

See you soon,

Love from Doe

xxxxxx


	3. Chapter 2 - He Did Look A Bit Crazy

Chapter 2 – He Did Look A Bit Crazy

 **NEED SOME IMPORTANT FEEDBACK-PLEASE READ TO THE END TO LEARN ABOUT MY CAT**

Since leaving LA, my life had become so boring. Charming was cute and everything but it was dull. It took one afternoon to look around anything that might be interesting, which was nothing by the why. There was nothing here. Daddy said I should go out with my family to make a good impression so I went with them a couple of times to introduce ourselves to the people who owned the stores and stuff. There was literally no designer stores or even a Target.

"Come on," Daddy said as he opened the door to my room, "we're going to see the man who owns the garage. He and his wife are big parts of the community."

"Really?" I scoffed, "now? I'm just about to go and sit in the garden."

"Dressed. Now. We want to make good first impressions with these people so make yourself pretty. Ok sweetheart?"

"Yes Daddy."

He nodded, satisfied with my answer and shut the door when he left. I threw the blankets off my body and made my way over to my walk in closet, Romeo yawned and I couldn't agree more. 11:30 is way too early to get actually dressed. What did Daddy even mean, "make yourself look pretty"? Like, obviously.

It only took me an hour and a half to get ready. I put the white cardigan over my short floral sundress and fastened the pearls into my ears. My hair was curled to perfection in golden ringlets down to my waist and pushed back with a baby blue headband. I decided to wear high white wedge sandals on my feet and I was ready to go. I know Mom would be really pleased with my minimal makeup so when she smiled at me I felt all warm and fuzzy.

"You're going to have to leave Romeo with Greta; it will be dangerous at the garage," Daddy said with an apologetic tone.

"Seriously?!"

Jack laughed and I glared at him. We spent another half an hour having the same lecture that he always gave us whenever we were going to a social event. We stood there obediently but I had stopped listening as soon as I heard the words "now listen". Jack and I shared a fed up look.

"Yes Sir," we said together when he had finished.

We had to go in Mom's car since we couldn't all fit in the Lambo. Daddy didn't stop talking the entire time he was driving. He was telling us about the work that this guy's wife did with the local schools and how the garage was a family run business and just boring stuff. Greta had baked a cake that I was supposed to tell them that me and Mom made together earlier in the morning. I nodded along without listening. It was stuff I had heard before.

"Right," Daddy said as we pulled into the garage, "best behaviour from you two and leave your phones in the car."

"Oh come on!" Jack protested.

"Daddy! Why?"

"You are going to be friendly and sociable with the people that work there, ok?"

"Yes Sir." We said with a huff and a sigh.

Once our phones were safely tucked under the seats we got out of the car to go and play Brady Bunch with this guy. Ugh. All I wanted to do was sit in the garden and maybe go for a swim but _no_. we have to come out here to talk to some boring old guy and his wife about cars and this boring town. I didn't even care about cars and the garage looked disgusting. Why the heck did we even need to come if Daddy was just going to leave us to talk to the other people anyway?

Across the lot there was a couple walking towards us. A guy with grey hair and a woman with brown hair and tacky blonde highlights. Great.

Daddy greeted them with a fake smile and friendly voice that he always used when he was going to brown nose someone. Mom gave the woman her cake that we had to pretend we made then Daddy introduced me and Jack.

"This is my eldest," Daddy said pointing to me, "Catherine and her brother Jack. Come on kids, be polite."

I stepped forwards with a sweet smile to shake their hands. The old man, Clay, explained that their daughter was out right now with her boyfriend but their son, Jax, was working on some cars. I turned to look at Jack with a smug grin. All I had heard from him since we left that disgusting motel was Jax this, Jax that, isn't Jax so cool? My brother totally had a crush on him and it was hilarious. Jack looked at me with wide eyes and an open mouth but then composed himself to make his introductions. He looked at me and shook his head but there was literally no point in telling me no; I was totally going to find that guy and tell him all about Jack's crush.

"Well, the boys love cake. What is it?" The woman, Gemma, asked as she looked between me and Mom.

I looked around to Mom who told her it was chocolate and raspberry. I nodded, happy that Mom at least knew what it was because I had no idea. I could tell that Gemma wasn't buying Daddy's act but Daddy didn't look like he had realised this. They talked for a bit in the middle of the lot while Jack and I looked around bored. While they weren't looking, Jack pulled a face and it made me laugh.

"Ok kids," Daddy said, "we're gonna go talk to Clay and Gemma in their office. You two will be alright won't you?"

"Yeah, totally." I said with a smile.

They nodded then started walking away with Gemma and Clay. I immediately looked around for Jax, the blonde guy from the motel. Jack went to grab my arm but I pulled it out of the way just in time as I saw Jax in the car place. I shouted over to him and started to jog over. He looked up and raised his eyebrows in shock but greeted me with a wave. Jack ran after me and tried to pull me back but I just pushed him off with a scoff and irritated sigh. The guys in the car thing were now looking at us in amusement and I laughed at Jack's embarrassment.

"Well hey there Darlin'" Jax said with an easy smile, "how are you doing? Feeling better than when I last saw you?"

"Totally! That motel was _so_ disgusting I don't even know how you slept in it! So my brother, Jack, has the biggest crush on you and literally hasn't stopped talking about you and your friends since we left!" I laughed.

Jax looked behind me to Jack who was probably bright red and moving his mouth like a fish. He smiled and laughed a bit but then grabbed my arm and pulled me as he stepped back. I was disgusted at first but then realised he had pulled me out of the way of Jack who had tried to grab me again.

"Oh Jax!" I wailed and turned around to Jack with a smug smile, "he is _so_ cool! You think he liked me? He's so good looking! How old do you think he is?"

"Shut up!" Jack growled.

I ducked behind Jax as my brother went for me again. Jax was laughing now too but Jack was so unimpressed.

"Oh Jax!" I sighed again, "Do you think he styles his hair? Should I grow my hair out too?!"

"You bitch!"

Jack went for me again and Jax moved out the way. I shouted at him, calling him a traitor but running around the car he had been working on so it was now between my brother and me. Surprisingly none of the guys that were in the garage were stopping us. Instead, they had stopped working to watch us.

"You think he would like me?! Oh Jax!"

Jack growled and rounded the car and I ran back into the lot to see Daddy coming back out of the office. I started to stop, my feet shuffling on the floor and Jack running into my back as he saw Daddy a bit too late. I straightened out my dress and cardigan as Jack tucked his shirt back into his cargo shorts and we smiled and waved back over to the adults across the lot.

"Are you kids behaving?!" Daddy shouted over.

"Yes Daddy!" I shouted back, "Jax is teaching us all about cars!"

Daddy looked back at the blonde man who came out to stand next to us, wiping his hands on a rag. He waved over too, going along with mine and Jack's act. Daddy's nodded, pleased with what we were doing and walked with Mr and Mrs Morrow over to Mom's car. Displeased that they would now be able to see what we were doing, I sighed and crossed my arms only to see an oily handprint on my white cardigan.

"Oh my gosh!" I squeaked, "this is Gucci!"

"Sorry Darlin'" Jax said, "just tryin' to help."

I huffed but just rolled my sleeves up so that I couldn't see it anymore. I guess I couldn't be too angry because he had stopped Jack from getting me. I could just throw it in the garbage if Greta couldn't get the stain out. Jax invited us into the Sons of Anarchy hang out and I thing Jack was gonna explode. He hadn't stopped talking about joining their gang as well. I was getting really bored with it.

"You think Dad will let me get a tattoo?" Jack whispered to me when he looked at the black marks under Jax's white shirt.

"Daddy won't even let us have boyfriends," I told him and rolled my eyes, "plus you're 15. You aren't even old enough to get one. What would you even get?"

"I don't know, like a wolf or something on my chest. Besides I look 21, right? I could get a fake ID."

"I'm not letting you get a fake ID just so you can get a tacky wolf tattooed on your chest. Forget it. Wait 3 years and see what Daddy says."

" _Such a killjoy_."

I scoffed and rolled my eyes again as we were led over to the bar. Jax asked us what we wanted and I told him that Jack will have a diet coke and I would have a sparkling water with a slice of lemon. We weren't allowed sugar. Jack protested saying he wanted a beer but I cut him off, saying Daddy would never forgive me if he got drunk. Jax seemed to find this funny and let him have a sip of his beer. The face Jack pulled was hilarious.

"That's disgusting!" he exclaimed and I laughed, "why do people drink that?"

Jax shrugged but laughed as well. Ok, so maybe this guy wasn't so bad, he was kind of fun. He and his friends just looked scary and the fact that they were in a gang was kind of scary too but I couldn't help but wonder if that guy that broke the vending machine was here. I wasn't going to ask though, obviously.

"So, we heard you've been doing the rounds in town," Jax said and pointed to a table, "sit down if you want."

I looked at the chairs and table sceptically but thought I was already dirty so I may as well sit down. Jack sat beside me and in front of Jax, looking at him like he was a god or something. He was pretty good looking and muscular too but Jack and I had spent the summer at Venice Beach so I had seen bigger guys.

"Do you how many times we have had to introduce ourselves?" Jack said.

"And we had to pretend to be interested in literally all the people and stuff that we saw! There are only so many questions you can ask about combs and scissors, you know?" I agreed and rolled my eyes, "it's been so boring. And there's literally no good looking guys! Everyone is either old or a kid."

Jack nodded.

"Oh," Jax said and looked at Jack with raised eyebrows, "you're actually gay? I thought your sister was joking."

"Is there a problem with that?" I asked.

I saw Jack look away, embarrassed or angry I couldn't tell. I put my drink down and looked at the blonde guy with a scowl. Me and Jack might not get along all the time but he was still my little brother and if anyone made him feel bad or hurt him I would kill them. Jax put his hands up and shook his head.

"Nah, it's cool."

"Good."

We stayed for _way_ too long. I don't know what Daddy was talking to Clay and Gemma about but it took hours. We learnt about the gang that they were apart of but I tried to steer the conversation away from it before Jack exploded with excitement. He just kept asking questions so I just stopped trying in the end. When I looked around the bar that we were in I couldn't help but notice how _brown_ everything was. It was kind of cool looking but it was all motorcycle themed and stuff so it was a bit boring. Eventually, Daddy came in to look for us.

"Ready to go guys?" he said with a fake smile.

We nodded, said goodbye to Jax and made our way back to the car. A few steps away from the car I happened to look around towards where there were guys working on cars and my eyes almost automatically found a man that I recognised as the guy from the vending machine. He was stood leaning against the wall at the back of the car place with his hands in his pockets and watching me. Not the family or looking around the view, _me_. I stopped in my tracks and looked back at him. I was way too far away to see his eyes but I knew they were dark and brown and really intense.

"Want to stay Cat?" Jack asked, making me look at him.

"Heck no."

I took a hesitant step towards the car, with this guy watching my every move. I felt myself blush so I hid my face behind my hair and got in the car quickly, almost stumbling over my shoes. When I looked back through the window, the man was still there and still watching me.

"You ok sweetheart?" Daddy asked, looking at me in the rear view mirror.

"Yes Daddy, I'm just really tired."

He nodded and turned the car around to leave the garage. It was like I could _feel_ him watching the car but my family talked happily on the way back home.

"Dad, Jax is so cool!" Jack was saying but I rolled my eyes and just stopped listening.

When we were finally home, I cuddled Romeo and we went up to our room to get changed for the garden. When we went back down to the garden I saw Daddy sat under the parasol talking on the phone. He waved at me but kept talking on the phone. He was talking about his business and what we were doing in this boring little town.

Apparently, we were building some luxury apartments on the land outside of the town and a cool mall with actual stores in and clubs. Thank goodness! Maybe the Charming people would finally learn to have fun and dress better. Maybe Gemma could get a less tacky hairstyle.

"-had to pay Clay Morrow for some protection business," Daddy was saying as I lay on the pool lounger, "I know, I know but he told me there's some shifty people around Charming that might not want these apartments built up... I don't know Jerry, these people are stuck in the 50's."

He was talking to Uncle Jerry. I had known him since I was a little girl and he was the person that gave me Romeo as a puppy for my 21st birthday. I shouted to Daddy to tell Uncle Jerry hi from me.

"Yeah, that was Catherine. She says hi. He says hi back sweetheart! Jerry, come on, it's not that much. We'll just ask the investors to put a bit more money towards the project; they don't want the site to be sabotaged right? Yeah exactly… The Sons of Anarchy… I don't know some club or something… no, you think I would really make a contract with criminals? I've got better business sense than that. Gemma and Clay are big in the community, everyone loves them."

I turned up my music so I could tune out of the conversation wanting peace and quiet. I really wish Daddy would leave and go somewhere else. The whole business thing was so boring. I found myself thinking about Jax and his friends. Maybe he wasn't so bad, he was actually kind of funny so maybe his friends weren't so bad either? Then I started thinking about the guy with dark eyes and tattoos on his arms. He was so intense; it was like I could feel his eyes burning a hole through me when I was in the car. I needed to stop thinking about him but I couldn't get that intense look, and the way I felt under it, out of my head. He was just so interesting to me, I had never in my life seen someone that looked like him. We never hung around with people with tattoos because Daddy said that tattoos were only for prostitutes and criminals. He didn't look like a prostitute but Daddy said that his friends weren't criminals. Maybe he was crazy; he did look a bit crazy.

 **HAPPY – 3** **RD** **PERSON POV**

"You're gonna make her uncomfortable," Juice told Happy with a smirk, "stop staring."

"I'm not staring."

He was definitely staring at her; he was always staring at her but this was the first time she had seen him. He had seen her around town with her little yapping rat in her arms, never on the floor. They looked like they had come from some kind of 80's TV show, they were the perfect nuclear family with two married parents, a boy and a girl. The boy looked like any high school football player- tall and broad with a handsome face and dark hair like the dad; the girl was probably a cheerleader, top of the pyramid kind of girl- small and slim with curly golden hair and Happy knew she had silver eyes that widened like a bunny in headlights when she was surprised. The family dynamic was strange to him; he had never had that in his life. They had probably never even been near a prison or drugs or guns.

"She is cute though," Juice said and joined his friend against the wall as he watched her, "you think she's single?"

Happy scoffed; a girl like that wouldn't be single if his disjointed knowledge of popular kids in high school told him anything. She had a boyfriend who was captain of the football team or something.

"You're not her type," he told the younger man.

"How do you know? She might like a bad boy."

He doubted this very much. Before he could reply though, Clay called them all over to tell them they were needed in the chapel after the garage closed for the day. It could only be about what had been discussed between Clay and Mr Duke-Dillinger.

Happy made sure everything was tidied away and cleaned up before they closed up for the evening. Clutter was not something he could live or work around, something he had probably got from his mother. He found himself cleaning when he couldn't think clearly. It was like the cleaner the surfaces and items around him were the calmer he felt. Once everything was lined up and put in its proper place he went and joined his brothers in the chapel to see what Clay was thinking about the Duke-Dillinger family. If it wasn't big it wouldn't be being taken to church.

"Right," Clay said and banged the gavel on the table; calling the men to attention, "the Duke-Dillinger's are gonna be a problem. I guess you've heard the rumours in town of what they are planning on doing and you've probably guessed that no one is happy about it."

"Yeah, the kids were saying they've been going around town talking to everyone," Jax said, thinking back to his talk with them, "kids are nice though."

"You think? I found them sickening."

"Nah, they were like that for 'Daddy' but when I got them on their own they were great."

Tig and Juice nodded in agreement, mentioning the fight and game of chase they had in the garage. Happy had been there too but had been hiding in the corner office of the work area. It had been amusing to watch two rich kids running around the cars and tools looking way too polished to be anywhere near motor oil and car grease but they ran around like it was a playground.

"Whatever," Clay shrugged, "if we let them build all that shit we lose control of the town. I've been in this town for 31 years, Jax was born here and these guys have been here for two minutes thinking they can over turn and take control of everything we have. We're not gonna let that happen."

"What do we do?" Tig asked.

"I've told Mr Duke-Dillinger about The Mayans and told him they won't be happy with the new development. He's gonna pay us for protection."

"So we're gonna let it happen?" Jax asked, taking a drag of his cigarette.

"Of course not! The closer we are to the project, the easier it will be to shut it down."

"Good plan," Tig said, "they'll never think it was us."

Clay nodded and with all of their agreements, the gavel fell back down onto the table and the heavy, serious atmosphere dissipated and joyful chatter resumed. Juice and Tig were talking about the kids, Catherine in particular. They said she was cute and speculated about how she was in bed, saying she looked like a virgin but was most definitely kinky and dirty in bed.

"It's always the quiet ones," Tig said in a conspiratorial voice, "that's what I've learned. Under that sundress and pearls there's piercings and tattoos, I bet you."

Happy rolled his eyes and walked away from the conversation, leaving the guys to their dirty conversation.

 **WOOOOO-** so this is how its gonna go. Catherine couldn't give a shit about what her dad was doing and what's going on in Charming because she is completely self-centred. Because she isn't interested, we are going to be seeing it from Happy's side of things every now and again, I hope this is alright. I still think she's cute though and her brothers crush on Jax is adorable, I hope you don't think she's _too_ mean to him- she is his big sister after all, that's just what big sisters are like lol.

For the way that Happy is going to be around her I took inspiration from my cat (Bandit), believe it or not. This is usually how it goes.

Hide around corners and behind walls to watch the new person until he knows you are not a threat.

When no threat is established, he will sit in full view of you but _will not_ come any closer- runs away when you come near- go back to step one.

He will sit on the same piece of furniture as you but will run away if you try and touch him- go back to step one if touched.

He might come for some attention (likes head and cheek kisses)

He will then sit with his paw on you, wants constant attention

Will stare at you when you are asleep then when you are awake

He probably likes you at this point so he will start to bring you gifts, a half alive mouse (you need to learn to kill, useless human) or other small creature. If you are particularly special, you will get the head of a bird.

He now loves you and will not stop pestering you for your attention, no peace, will wake you up if he wants a kiss and a cuddle-needy boy.

Follows you everywhere

I'm not saying Happy is gonna start giving her the heads of dead birds (even though it does kind of sound like something he might do). I don't know, I just kind of imagine it is hard to get Happy to like and trust you so you have to work really hard and go slowly because he'll be scared away if not. Tell me what you think!

See you in the next one!

Lots of love, from

Doe

Xxxxxxx

PS- I am a vegetarian and killing things (even insects and stuff) makes me cry but I have to pretend to be happy and proud of him because he caught it and ripped the head off for me. My boy is a killer but so loving, just like I imagine Happy to be! I have up to now received about 6 bird heads, a live fish, 5 mice, 2 frogs and someone's pet hamster. He must really love me.


	4. Chapter 3 - Uncle Jerry

Chapter 3- Uncle Jerry

Charming was… small. It was really quiet and boring too. There is literally nothing there and nothing to do. Daddy and Mom were out all the time doing whatever for Daddy's business and Jack was always either out trying to find that gang or at school so I was left alone all day. I got really bored of lounging around the house after about three weeks. It was a lot smaller than my old house but Daddy let me have the biggest room with a joined bathroom. There was a cute balcony that faced out to the backyard so that was good but I got fed up of just looking out to the garden. I shut my laptop with a sigh and lay back on my bed. Life was so hard.

As I looked up to the top of my canopy bed I sighed again, cuddling Romeo on my chest. Bored, bored, and bored. I guessed I could take Romeo for a walk again but he's only got little legs. It was only 2:00pm and we had been out twice already today so he was tired. Back home in LA, I would be shopping with my friends or out to lunch, maybe partying later on but I never drank alcohol. I looked at my phone for the third time in half an hour, nothing. None of my friends had even texted me since the end of my first week.

"Miss Cat?" Greta called from downstairs, "are you still home?"

"Yeah Nanny!"

I heard her footsteps coming up to my room. She knocked then came in, looking at me with her hands on her hips and her eyebrows raised up; making her forehead wrinkle more. She was a really cute old lady and I loved her a lot. She closed the door behind her, moved the curtains away from the side of the bed and sat down. I looked up at her as she ran her hands through my hair, working out some tangles and spreading it out across the duvet. She has always done this since I was a child.

"Oh Miss Cat," she cooed, stroking my cheek with the back of her hand, "you are so grown up now. When did that happen?"

"Greta?" I asked with a small frown, she looked almost sad, "what's wrong?"

"Nothing Sweetheart, just reminiscing. That means to think back to past events," she explained when I looked confused.

"Oh. Are you sure you're ok?"

"Yes of course! Do you want to come to the store with me? I need some things to make your dinner."

"Yeah ok. You wanna drive?"

She shook her head and told me to put some comfy shoes on because she wanted to walk. More walking, great. But I could never say no to Greta; she has been a really big person in my life since I was a child and the only person not to shout at me when I was failing in school. I always knew I was dumb, Jack and Daddy told me enough times, but Greta always made me feel a bit better about it. She taught me how to play the piano and sing, we would sit for hours just playing around on it.

"Your talents lie outside the classroom; you shouldn't feel bad about your grades," she would say to me, "you are a beautiful dancer and a beautiful singer and I have never heard anyone play the piano as well as you."

I knew she was lying to make me feel better but it worked.

I had my arm linked through hers as we walked down the streets. She was pointing out all the dogs she could see and tried to tell me to talk to some good looking guys. I laughed but told her not to be silly; she knew I wasn't allowed a boyfriend. I never really understood why me and Jack weren't allowed to have boyfriends and Daddy never explained it to us. He wasn't so strict with Jack but I was the golden girl, the eldest so he always watched me like a hawk. Mom wasn't so bothered but I never really saw her; she was either out with her friends or in bed with a migraine.

"Oh look at him over there!" Greta said, pointing across the road, "he's very handsome and he has a dog! He's perfect for you, go and talk to him!"

"Greta!" I laughed, "Stop it! You'll get me in trouble!"

"Oh what your father doesn't know won't hurt him! Come on let's go and speak to him."

"Nanny!" I scolded and stopped dead in the street, looking at her with wide eyes, "you're terrible!"

She looked behind her at me and rolled her eyes. I knew she was right but I was far too scared of what Daddy will say or do if he ever found out; I was never particularly rebellious, not like Jack, and I think the only thing I've ever done to go against Daddy's wishes was one time when I had a full sugar coke instead of a diet one when I was 14. I guess I'm just a daddy's girl like Jack always tells me. Greta was a bad influence on me but my small fear of Daddy was always enough to keep me from being badly behaved. I was a good girl right to the middle.

"Ok, ok, Miss Cat, I understand. Let's get this shopping."

I loved spending time with Greta. We always had fun and a good time. She always told me about her childhood and when she was a younger woman. The reason she was such a bad influence was because she was a rebel chick in her youth. She ran wild, she would tell me, and go around with boys and drink alcohol and eat cake. In a way, I wish I was like that too but it just wasn't me.

"Let's get some of these, Miss Cat, and then we can go and have a picnic in the park," Greta said and picked up some pre-packaged sandwiches with some chips and a packet of cookies, "like when you were little. It's a lovely day."

I nodded happily; any time spent with Nanny was the best.

I had called Daddy to tell him about the picnic, he sounded fine with it and said he could order pizza or something for the rest of the family. It would have been pepperoni so I wouldn't have had any anyway.

We lay on the grass and ate our food. Greta was pointing out different things that she could see and all the men with dogs.

"Now that is something I would let get behind me," Greta told me and I laughed in disbelief at her rude comments, "Miss Cat, he is looking at you."

I rolled my eyes again and looked over to where she was looking. When I saw who it was my heart stopped then felt like it was going to come out of my mouth. I swallowed and stared back at him. It was _him._ I sat up onto my elbows to look at him better and Greta made an interested 'ooo' noise which made me laugh.

"He is exactly the kind of man I would have gone for," she whispered to me, "go and speak to him."

"Nanny…"

"What have you got to lose?"

"My _life_. Look at him, he's obviously a criminal."

"Even better! Go!"

She shoved my shoulder and wouldn't let up until I stood and made my way over to him. When he saw me approaching, his lips curled up into a small smile once before settling back into the flat expression he had the past 2 times I had seen him.

"Sorry Sir," I said to him once I was close enough, "Nanny wouldn't leave me alone until I came to speak to you."

"Nanny?" he asked.

His voice was the same gruff, kind of raspy one that he had in the motel. I thought maybe he had a bad throat or something but I guess he always sounded like that. I swallowed again, his eyes left my face and went to my throat, before I nodded and pointed back to where Greta was looking at us through her Chanel sunglasses, waving when she saw us looking.

"She your grandma?"

I shook my head and waved back to her, the man did the same.

"No, she was my nanny when I was a baby but when I was 18 she became our housekeeper."

I was just about to look back up at him but was distracted by a huge white dog bounding towards me with a torn up tennis ball in its mouth. I gasped excitedly and crouched down to meet it. The ball was dropped at my feet and I ruffled the dogs ears. It looked like a pit bull or something like that, maybe a boxer dog, with tattered ears that had bite marks in them and only one eye. He had a scar on his lip and jaw but he was the most adorable thing I had ever seen. I already knew it was the man's.

"Is he friendly?" I asked but didn't wait for an answer, just carried on fussing tis huge muscly dog.

"Scrap," the man said, "he's a rescue."

I looked up at him and saw that he was looking at me like I had grown two heads but then surprised me by crouching down with me. He stroked the dog himself with a small smile. He said that Scrap was part of a dog fighting ring in Lodi, just a few miles away from Charming. I cooed and fussed and made baby noises at the poor dog.

"Poor baby," I pouted, "but your daddy is taking very good care of you, isn't he? I bet he is, yes, I bet he is. You are such a lucky boy, yes you are, yes you are!"

"I didn't want him to be killed," The Man said.

"No," I said, still pouting with my baby voice and fussing Scrap who was loving every moment of my attention, "killing things is wrong isn't it? Yes it is! But your daddy is a nice man isn't he? Oh yes, he saved you didn't he Baby?"

Scrap rolled onto his back so I could rub his belly and play with his paws. I laughed as this massive dog melted and squirmed, his tail wagging so hard that his but was wiggling. I knelt on the grass fully so I could be more comfortable but The Man stayed squatting over me, I could feel his intense eyes on my face but I didn't care; there was _a dog_ here. Scrap panted and drooled onto my pretty pink dress but I wasn't bothered.

"Oh you are the most handsome boy!"

I heard The Man breath out a laugh and looked up at him, kind of forgetting he was there. He was looking at me but it wasn't as much of an intense thing this time. I smiled at him, happy that he had saved this dog's life. How bad could someone be if they saved a life? Not that bad, I bet. Maybe he wasn't as scary as I thought he was. He did look scary though but now that I was closer I got to see his tattoos more. He had loads. I blushed when I realised he was watching me admiring him but I guess he gets girls looking at him all the time.

"Sorry Sir," I said again, "I should let you get back to playing. Yes I should!"

"You're Catherine, right?" The Man asked and I nodded, "I'm Happy Lowman."

"It's nice to meet you Mr Lowman and it's good to meet _you_ Scrap! I should let you get back to playing."

"No, it's ok."

I smiled, he didn't want me to leave I guess. That was kind of a nice feeling. I glanced up at Greta and saw that she was looking at me smugly. I glared at her but secretly, I was happy that she sent me over because Scrap was the cutest thing I had literally ever seen and I was pleased I wasn't so scared of Mr Lowman anymore.

Suddenly, Scrap was on his feet and pushing the tennis ball towards me. I laughed and stood up to throw the ball for him. I didn't have so much arm strength so I didn't manage to throw it very far. I guess Mr Lowman threw the ball further than I did because Scrap ran _way_ further than where the ball was. I laughed again and Greta was still looking with that smug look on her face; she had actually persuaded me to go against Daddy's orders. We stayed away from people with tattoos and just men in general.

Greta stood up and made her way over to me, greeting the muscle dog in a friendly voice and giving him a crust of a sandwich.

"Your phone had been ringing, Miss Cat," Greta said and handed me my bag, "hello Sir, how are you?"

I reached in and took out my phone to see I had 5 missed calls from Daddy. Oh no; I was going to be in massive trouble. Why didn't Greta answer the phone for me and let me know? I had to call him back straight away.

"Hello Ma'am," Mr Lowman said to Greta politely, "it's good to meet you."

"Hi Daddy, I'm sorry; I didn't hear my phone," I said, "are you ok?"

"I need you home straight away Catherine. Where are you?"

"What's happened?"

"I just need you home; you have been out for long enough."

I didn't understand what that meant. He was never normally this angry when I was out, especially if I was with Greta. I just really didn't understand.

"Daddy?" I asked, frowning into the phone and glancing between Greta and Mr Lowman, "I don't want to come home. I'm having fun with Greta."

"Now Catherine."

The line went dead and I couldn't believe it. He was never like this ever. Greta was now looking at me with a concerned face and Mr Lowman was back to the emotionless face. The older lady put her hand on my arm and rubbed it lightly. I told her what Daddy had said and she scowled. She never pretended to like Daddy since I was old enough to make up my own mind on things but sometimes she said that Daddy put ideas into my head.

"Sorry Mr Lowman, I didn't mean to interrupt your walk. See you later, bye." I said with a small wave and a quick fuss of Scrap and kissed the dogs head before we left.

I spent the rest of the way home being worried about what was happening. Daddy _never_ made me come home when I didn't want too so it had to be really important.

When we did get home the smell of pizza hit me straight away but I wasn't hungry. I helped Greta in with the bags but didn't hear anything in the house so I went around calling for Daddy or Mom. I heard murmuring coming from Daddy's office so I just went in. There was some quiet voices coming from Daddy's office so I decided they were obviously in there. Not even bothering to knock because Daddy never cared if I heard about his business, I walked in and the room went quiet.

"Oh my gosh!" I exclaimed, "Uncle Jerry! Hi!"

"Hello Honey!" he called back, his face lighting up.

I ran across the room, dodged around Daddy's huge desk, and jumped into Uncle Jerry's arms. He picked me up, like he always did, and spun me around. His hand was on the back of my head while his other arm was around my waist. Once he put me back down, he kept his hand on the small of my back while he kissed my cheek. I was beaming up at him; I had missed Uncle Jerry. I hadn't seen him for about a year or something? Like, it had been ages but he hadn't changed at all.

"Look at you honey, all grown up!" he said and tucked my hair behind my ear.

"I've looked like this for years Jerry," I laughed and hit him lightly on the arm, "what are you doing here?"

"I've come to help Daddy with some business, he's having a bit of trouble with the development. You know he hasn't got that much business sense."

I giggled and laughed at Daddy who was sat in his chair smiling at me. He wasn't angry with me, thank goodness, I think he just wanted me to come home to see Jerry. I pulled away from Jerry and went to kiss Daddy on the cheek. He asked if I wanted to stay in the office and I obviously nodded happily, and went to sit myself in the squashy armchair by the fireplace and bookshelves. I was a bit nervous because I always thought the fire would go everywhere with the bookshelves.

"Don't sit there honey," Jerry said and held his hand out to me, "some and sit on the desk like when you were little."

"I'm not little anymore though Uncle Jerry," I said with a frown, he was being so weird today, "I'll take up too much room."

"Do as you're told, Catherine," Daddy said firmly, making me turn around and walk back over.

Why were they being _weird_? Daddy always let me sit in this armchair because I could always fall asleep by the fire. I frowned again but hopped up onto the mahogany desk beside Daddy and watched them as they looked over paper with lines all over it. I wasn't really sure what it was but it said something about apartment buildings. Probably for the new buildings. I didn't listen, swinging my legs over the side of the desk and looked around the office but my ears perked up when I heard them mention the Sons of Anarchy.

"Are you sure you can trust them Duke?" Jerry asked, using Daddy's nickname, "they are criminals after all. Where is this money coming from that you are gonna use to pay them? How much are you paying them?"

"They told me they could offer protection for the site to stop people breaking into it. I have spoken to Clay and he seems like a pretty top kind of guy; friendly you know? I told you Jerry, the investors are just going to have to put some more money into it."

"How much, Duke?"

Daddy sighed and looked at me. He looked kind of sad so I put my hand on his arm with a smile. I didn't know what was going on my they didn't sound really happy. Daddy smiled back and covered my small hand with his huge one, rubbing it gently with another sigh.

"$30,000."

Jerry bashed his hand down on the desk making me jump and flinch slightly. I covered my heart and looked up at him with wide eyes. that wasn't really that much money, like, an hours work for Daddy or something. Jerry growled and looked at Daddy with a really angry face.

"Are you fucking kidding me Duke? $30,000 a month?" Jerry shouted at him and I gripped onto Daddy's arm, "the investors are not going to support that! Especially to pay off a bunch of criminals."

"Jerry-"

"I can't believe you would be so stupid!"

I frowned again. Daddy still looked sad and Uncle Jerry just looked angry. He started walking around the office with his hand pinching his nose. Me and Daddy watched him walk around and huff. He then started laughing and looked over at us. When he came back to the desk, he stood next to me. His arm went around my shoulder, squeezing me and putting his hand on my bare leg. I looked up at him, confused and kind of uncomfortable. I tried to move my leg out from under his hand but he tightened his grip on me a bit.

"Uncle Jerry? I… I don't like this," I said quietly, looking over at Daddy for help.

"Don't be stupid, Catherine," Jerry said with a smile at me, "your Daddy said this was fine."

"But-"

"Do as youre told Catherine." Daddy said with another sigh.

I had literally no choice but to sit on the desk with Uncle Jerry's hand holding my leg so hard that my skin was kind of dipping under his fingers, and his arm holding my shoulder. I shuffled uncomfortably but was obedient like I always was even though I kind of wanted to cry. I felt kind of scared but there nothing I could do. Daddy was not looking at me on purpose I think.

I don't know how long I sat on the desk for but I felt really stiff and tense. Eventually though they stopped talking and I was let go. The place where his hand was had gone red and sore. I hoped I wouldn't bruise.

"Call them in tomorrow," Jerry said, "I want to talk to this Clay."

Daddy nodded.

"Off you go then Catherine. We'll see you down here for tomorrow's meeting ok? Make sure you wear something nice. I want these men to see how beautiful you are and then they will feel bad about taking all of our money, ok?"

"Y-yes Sir," I whispered and hopped off the desk, "goodnight Daddy."

I kissed Daddy's cheek before almost running out of the office. For once, I ignored Uncle Jerry's asking for his own kiss and ran upstairs to my bedroom. After making sure that Romeo was in my room, I locked the door; double then triple checking the door wouldn't move. Something was weird about Uncle Jerry today, and Daddy. They never acted like that. They are like best friends and had been since they played football in high school together. Jerry had introduced Mom to Daddy and everything but they argued and Jerry scared me.

I didn't like how he grabbed me. I used to sit on his knee and fall asleep when I was younger and I always hugged him and stuff but he never touched me _there._ Mom and Daddy always told me that it was a really private place and that men should never touch me if I didn't want them too but Daddy let Uncle Jerry touch me when I didn't want him to.

I made sure I had on my most covering pyjamas and hid under the covers, hugging Romeo to my chest and trying not to cry out of confusion and fear.

 **OH NO! -** Poor Cat! There's always a creepy uncle in these rich families, isn't there? How do we feel about him? Is he an actual threat or just a bit dodgy?

Cat is so innocent and cute, I love her. I'm wanting her to get stronger and know her own mind the more we find out about her but like we already know, she is going to need to grow up pretty quickly fairly soon!

Please give me your feedback on this and the other chapters, I'm not sure if we are liking this or not. (I'm a needy bitch ok)

See you in the next one.

Lots of love,

Doe

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx


	5. Chapter 4 - Your Family Is A Bag Of Dick

Chapter 4- Your Family Is A Bag Of Dicks

I woke up feeling sick and with a really bad stomach, if you know what I mean? I didn't wake up on my own; I was actually woken up by my door handle jiggling and banging on my door. I sat up with a gasp and Romeo started barking.

"Come on honey," Uncle Jerry said through the door, "why is your door locked?"

So you couldn't come in, I wanted to say but instead I told him I was bathing. I held Romeo to my chest tightly and kissed his head until he stopped growling at the door. The clock said it was 10am and the meeting was at lunchtime so I had a few hours yet to calm my heart and get ready. When I looked down at my leg I saw faint bruises on my skin and winced when I touched them.

"Make sure you look nice today," Jerry called, "maybe another pretty dress?"

"Uh- yeah ok."

I made sure to do my makeup well and curl my hair neatly rather than let it go natural and kind of messy. I decided that I would try and look a bit more professional since I was going to be attending a business meeting, even if I was just going to be there to look nice. I had done that since I was about 15. I dressed in plain grey dress with long sleeves and a short flared skirt. The bruises really showed on my legs though so I had to wear black tights, ugh. I wore my favourite classic, black Louboutin's with the red bottoms, you know?

When I sneaked out of my room and downstairs I found Greta in the kitchen. She immediately noticed something was wrong and came to me straight away. Her hands rubbed the top of my arms as she asked me, concerned what was wrong and I took her back to my room and locked the door. I still had half an hour before I was needed downstairs.

"What is it Miss Cat?" she asked with a frown.

I pulled down my tights and showed her the bruises on my leg. She gasped and I tried really hard not to cry all my makeup off as she bent down to see them closer. They looked exactly like what they were, finger marks. Greta looked up at me in shock.

"What happened? Who did this? Your father?" she asked me angrily and I shook my head violently, "Jerry?"

I nodded and wiped away a tear from my cheek delicately. She heaved herself back up straight with a small sigh, I pulled my tights back up and straightened out my dress.

"It's a weekend," Greta said softly, "take your brother into the meeting with you and do not let him leave your side. Do you understand? I'll tell him to get dressed quickly and you can go in fashionably late together. I will speak to your father later. Ok?"

"Thank you Nanny," I sniffed and nodded.

"That's alright Sweetheart, see you later. I'll tell Jack."

I waited until Jack knocked on my door to open it. He was wearing a shirt and tie with dishevelled hair and sleepy eyes.

"I don't know why I have to come," Jack said and rubbed his eyes, "I don't give a fuck about this stuff."

"Jax is gonna be there," I said and forced a smile, "I thought you might want to see him."

Immediately, his eyes lit up and he was hurrying to straighten his hair out as we descended the stairs and went through to the office with Romeo following. Inside were Daddy and Uncle Jerry sat at one side of the desk and Mr Morrow and Jax on the other side in big chairs and looking kind of uncomfortable. There were some other guys stood at the back of the room as well, I recognised the man with the funny voice and one of the men that were in the garage when we visited weeks ago. Uncle Jerry looked at me then to Jack with a frown. I pulled my brother over to stand behind Daddy's chair.

"Sweetheart?" Daddy whispered and turned to look at me until I bent so he could talk in my ear, "why is Jack here?"

"I thought he would like to know what goes on in here, he's never been in a meeting before."

Daddy nodded, seemingly happy with my explanation so I backed away and stood beside Jack who was trying not to look directly at Jax. I couldn't help but smile slightly despite my discomfort. His crush was really cute even though Jax was _literally_ twice his age and he was _so_ not Jax's type. When my eyes flickered over to Uncle Jerry he was looking at me with an angry expression so I looked away and picked up Romeo to cuddle. Jack had realised something was up, I think, because he looked from me to Jerry then changed places so I was further away from him. He gave me a look to ask if I was alright and I just nodded silently as the meeting started.

"Right," Mr Morrow said and leant forwards to rest on the desk, "you called us here. What do you need?"

Daddy let Uncle Jerry lead the conversation, as he always did, and me and Jack just stood pretending to listen. Jack was doing a better job than me because he was actually looking at who was speaking but I was just looking out of the window onto the front lawn. It was a really nice day but I wouldn't be able to go out without wearing either jeans or some tights, I hated wearing things on my legs; it was so restrictive and uncomfortable. As I hugged Romeo, who was falling asleep against my shoulder, I felt someone nudge me. I looked around at Jack with wide eyes.

"What?" I asked with a shrug.

"You are being spoken too, Catherine." Uncle Jerry said to me in a stern voice.

I blinked at him as he nodded towards Jax. I looked at the blonde man and frowned. What did he want me for? I felt everyone's eyes on me and I shrunk back a bit, holding Romeo a bit tighter.

"I said," Jax smiled, "are you alright, Cat?"

Before I could even nod, Jerry had cut across me to tell him I was fine. It kind of made me smile when Mr Morrow interrupted Jerry and asked me again if I was alright. I put on the big fake smile that I had been practising since I was about 14 and nodded at them. I hadn't missed Jax calling me Cat either, no one but Greta called me that; I was Catherine to everybody else.

"Yeah I am fine," I said cheerily, "I'm just hoping to go out later, that's all. Romeo needs a walk, you know?"

They didn't look very convinced but Jerry didn't let them think about it. He firmly started talking about their budget and stuff again. Jack put his hand on my shoulder and shook me a bit; making me smile and nod at him. I know he was asking if I was ok.

From what small bits of conversation I was listening too, I guessed that Jerry was trying to get Daddy out of the contract with Mr Morrow but that wasn't seeming like an option.

"I'm not being… funny," Mr Morrow sneered at Jerry, "but should the children be here for this? It's kind of important."

"Don't be ridiculous," Jerry laughed, "Jack isn't listening and Catherine wouldn't be able to understand what was happening anyway."

I frowned as Daddy laughed with him but when they looked at me I smiled again, trying to hide my trembling lip behind Romeo's head. Jack kind of laughed too and I just wanted to curl up in a ball and cry. The other men weren't laughing though; they were stood/sat in silence. Jax and Mr Morrow were looking between my family and me with frowns on their face. The other men at the back of the room looked at each other and raised their eyebrows.

"Excuse me," I sniffed and started to walk out of the room.

I was so embarrassed. I knew I was dumb, like, I know that but to have Daddy and Uncle Jerry telling these strange men that and even laughing at me was horrible. It made me feel so small and like a child. Jerry stood from where he sat next to Daddy and went to grab my arm but Romeo immediately growled at him and bit his hand. Uncle Jerry shouted and ripped his hand away from the growling Pomeranian and I hurried out of the room, crying. I heard Daddy shouting for me to come back and do what I was told but I ignored him and Jerry telling me that Romeo needed to be put down. Thinking about Jerry killing my precious Romeo made me cry even more.

What I really wanted to do was find Greta and cry on her shoulder but I also wanted to get out of the house. Without thinking or changing my clothes, I walked out the front door and away from the people who just made me feel literally like a child. I'm 23 for goodness sake. I am not a child.

"Hey," I heard someone shout from behind me, "hey Cat, stop a minute! Shit, you can walk fast in those shoes."

I turned around and saw Jax chasing me down the road. Romeo started wagging his tail and yapping at him which made the man smile a bit. He came closer and scratched his head but looked at me with a concerned look on his face.

"Are you ok?" he asked.

I wanted to nod and lie with that big fake smile but I shook my head, covering my mouth with my hand and ducking my head into Romeo's fur. He was still wagging his tail like his Mommy hadn't just been torn down in front of 4 bikers and my family. Didn't he know I was sad? Jax put his arm around my shoulder and kind of hugged me. I felt my cheeks go bright red and all hot. I had never been hugged by any man that wasn't family or Uncle Jerry, not that I can remember anyway. His hand patted the back of my head in a comforting kind of way until I felt a bit better and stepped away from him.

"Your family is a bag of dicks but this little guy knew that already!" he said and talked to Romeo.

"They- I'm not very clever," I sighed with a shrug, "I failed all my finals and stuff so they're not wrong. Jack is like really smart and good at football and I just… I don't even know. I'm not good at anything."

"They make you feel like that?"

"No," I shook my head with another shrug and stroked Romeo again, "it's the truth. Look, I'm just embarrassed; I'll be fine in like, 10 minutes."

He didn't look impressed with me but that was an expression that I was used to, disappointment. I sighed again and looked away from me. I just wanted the ground to swallow me up so I wouldn't have to walk back into that house after disobeying Daddy and ignoring Uncle Jerry and causing a scene. There was nothing worse than being told off by both Daddy and Jerry.

"Hey, I have an idea," Jax said and tilted my chin up so that I was looking at him, "come back to the clubhouse and have a drink, just chill out."

"Oh, no thank you. I don't drink alcohol."

"Do you actually _do_ anything?" he laughed, "you don't drink alcohol, you don't have sugar, and you're a vegetarian, you don't smoke or take drugs…"

"I'm sorry…"

"Shit! No, I didn't mean it like that! You just don't sound like you have much fun, that's all."

I pressed my lips together and looked at him with a sigh. He was looking at me with a lopsided, relaxed smile and I shook my head again. He really was a good looking guy but in a like, surfer, country boy kind of way. Not my type but definitely Jack's. I couldn't go to the biker gang's house because I would probably be killed and buried in the garden by Daddy.

"No, I can't. If I went down to your house Daddy would kill me!"

"Not _my_ house, Darlin', the clubhouse."

"What's the difference?"

He smiled again and I knew I was being stupid but I literally couldn't help it. I just didn't understand what the difference was between his house and club house. I shrugged and looked away, embarrassed again. Jax laughed and apologised, patting me on the arm.

"I'm sorry," I sighed, "I need to go back and find Nanny. You need to go back with your dad."

He nodded and walked back to my house with me in silence. I had put Romeo on the floor to walk around and go for a pee. My dog always made me feel so happy and just watching him skip around made me laugh. When we went in, I sneaked passed the office and Jax waited until I had gone until he opened the door. Thankfully, Greta was in her bedroom at the back of the house since it was her day off. I went straight to where she was reading on the bed and sat next to her.

"Oh Miss Cat," she said, putting her arm over my shoulder and letting me bury my face in her shoulder to cry, "oh my poor little girl. What happened?"

I hugged her as she petted my hair; too busy crying to tell her what had happened. She didn't push me though because she just waited until I had calmed down but, by the time I was, I was sleepy and just fell asleep on her shoulder. I heard her laugh quietly before I fell all the way asleep on her shoulder like I used to when I was a child with her stroking my hair and singing softly to me.

When I woke up, I was in Greta's room and she was napping beside me. I had a blanket over me and my shoes were by the closed door. I kind of felt like I was finally at home for the first time in literal weeks. I smiled and tucked myself closer to Nanny and went back to sleep for a couple more hours.

"Come on Miss Cat, wake up," I heard Greta saying softly, "your father wants to speak to you."

"No Nanny, please don't make me go. Can I stay with you?"

"Now come on, you're an adult now. It's time to be grown up about this. Sit up and let me look at you."

I huffed and sat up so she could straighten out my hair and wipe away the makeup tracks down my cheeks. Once I was looking "pretty as a picture" I was sent downstairs to Daddy's office where he and Jerry were sitting at the desk, the other men probably long gone and Jack was nowhere to be seen. They looked up at me when I walked in but neither of them were happy to see me. Daddy stood up and gestured to the chair across from him where Jax had been sitting. I sat down with my hands folded on my knees and my back sat up straight and my chin tilting upwards. I wasn't going to be scared and I wasn't going to cry, no matter how much I was shouted at and goodness was I shouted at.

They shouted at me for being stupid and causing a scene. I ignored Daddy's orders and let my dog bite Uncle Jerry. I wanted to point out that I didn't tell him too, he was just protecting his Momma that's all; if Uncle Jerry hadn't tried to grab me it wouldn't have happened. Apparently, _I_ had embarrassed _them_ in the meeting and made _them_ look stupid but I couldn't disagree more.

"You need to be punished for this, Catherine," Daddy said sternly, "so we have decided that we need to put down Romeo."

My heart sank. It wasn't Romeo's fault.

"NO!" I screamed at them, standing up and hitting Daddy's desk with my hands, "no you can't! You can't kill my boy because _you_ embarrassed _me_ and made _me_ cry! You called me stupid in front of strangers and not expect me to be ok about it! Please Daddy! Please don't do this!"

I ignored my earlier promise to myself and started crying. I looked at Daddy with wide, tearful eyes; hoping it would make him think about what he was really doing but he looked back at me with crossed arms and a frowny face. he shook his head, letting me know that it wasn't going to work.

"Please Daddy! Please!" I sobbed uncontrollably, "Please, I'll do anything! It wasn't Romeo's fault!"

"It's what we decided, Catherine." Jerry said but I ignored him.

I went around the desk and knelt at Daddy's feet. I put my hands over his and clutched them to my face, wiping my tears on him and begging loudly and sobbing. I begged for an actual hour but they weren't budging. Half way through, Greta came in and glared daggers at Daddy and Jerry. She demanded to know what they had said and what they had made me do.

"They're going to kill Romeo!" I cried, gripping onto her hands and looking at her, "Tell them Nanny, please tell them that they can't!"

"You are monsters!" Greta shouted at them, "both of you! Don't worry lovely girl, they won't do it. They aren't going to kill your little man."

"You know what, Greta?" Jerry said with a sneer, "you're fired. You can leave tomorrow."

"I don't work for you. I work for Miss Cat."

"You work for Duke."

I started sobbing all over again as Jerry stood up to leave the office. I shouted after him.

"Where are you going?!" I shrieked, "Uncle Jerry please!"

I scrambled to my feet and chased after him. I found him in my bedroom, cornering Romeo who was growling and barking. I called Romeo over to me but he was way too scared to move. That was when I heard Mom come in and start shouting.

"That is quite enough!" she shouted loudly, "Jerry get the fuck away from my daughter's dog! Who the hell do you think you are making that kind of decision?! _Don't_ even get me started on you firing Greta!"

I looked at Mom with huge eyes as she stormed into the room and poked Jerry really hard in the shoulder. He was looking at her just as surprised as I was and was completely speechless. Good. With Jerry distracted, Romeo ran over to me and I grabbed him off the floor and hugged him tightly.

"Thank you, Mom," I sniffed and she turned to me, looking at me with a small smile.

"But," she said, coming closer and wiped my cheeks, "you are going to have to give something up."

" _Literally_ anything."

"Alright, me and Daddy will discuss what it is. Now, Jerry is going to leave you and your Romeo in peace to calm down."

"Thank you Mom."

She waited until Jerry had left before she followed him and closed the door behind her. Again, I rushed to it and locked it quickly.

The next day, Uncle Jerry was nowhere to be seen. Daddy told me he was in the guest bedroom to give me some space for the day. Daddy had also had the manners to apologise for everything yesterday and I gave him a hug but hadn't forgiven him completely. He told me he was going to kill my dog because I walked out so they wouldn't see my crying so I wasn't going to forgive him right then and there.

The decision was that I would sell my car and get a job because Daddy needed to cut my allowance hugely. I was _so_ angry but calmed down when I found out Jack was going to have to get one as well. Greta wasn't so sure about me getting a job though because I didn't do well in school and didn't have anything going for me. There wasn't really anything I could do with playing the piano and dancing.

"You're a beautiful girl," Mom said, "you're going to find something that you can get trained to do."

 **Uh-huh?-** I mean, I feel like we all know what she's going to end up doing, right? No Mr Lowman in this chapter but there's going to be quite a lot from the next one onwards.

So, is it kind of pathetic that I cried when I was writing about Romeo and when they were laughing at her in the meeting. Poor Cat

I was actually watching loads of the great british bake off while I was writing this so I was crying and writing and laughing at mel and sue while also getting anxious over if James was going to get through to the final. (spoiler alert: he does and I hope he wins). It's been an emotional few days, ok?

Anyway, see you in the next one where we get to see more Mr Lowman.

Lots of Love

Doe

Xxxxxxxxxx

PS I skimmed this quickly but if there's any mistakes it's because I wasn't emotionally ready to go through it again


	6. Chapter 5 - Mr and Mrs Chibs

Chapter 5 – I've really confused you, haven't I?

 _I just wanna say this chapter is really fucking cute and I love Happy and Cat together and this chapter is literally 2000 words of her being confused and it's adorable._

 **Happy/3** **rd** **POV**

Happy was sat in the bar when Clay, Jax, Tig and Chibs came back from the meeting with Mr Duke-Dillinger. He sipped on his beer as they walked in chatting animatedly about what had happened and laughing about something happening to Jeremy Vivaldi.

"When the dog fucking bit him!" Chibs laughed and grabbed his hand as if imitating how Jerry had pulled his hand away, "I don't think I could've stopped laughing if he paid me a million dollars!"

Tig howled with laughter as well and Happy knew exactly what dog he was talking about. He looked up at them with interest, listening intently to what they were saying. Something about Catherine's little rat-dog biting Mr Duke-Dillinger's business partner on the hand and Catherine walking out crying.

"That family is real mean to her, man," Jax said once the laughter had died down, "they've made her feel like she's not good at _anything_ and she called herself dumb…"

Happy felt himself bristling up at the mention of the girl who had been so kind and gentle to his dog. Most people were scared of Scrap but Catherine hadn't even given him a second thought and fussed him with just as much love as she showed her little, perfect dog.

"Yeah," Clay interjected, sitting across from Happy with the rest of the guys joining him, "when you were outside they called her beautiful but stupid; Jerry's exact words were, 'she's more like an ornamental doll than a computer; she is useless.'"

" _Bastards_ ," Jax spat, "they know that's their kid right? You can't say that about your family in front of a bunch of strangers."

Catherine seemed to be the topic of choice for them, not the actual events of the meeting. They all agreed that she was pretty and cute but maybe she wasn't the most intelligent of people. Jax brought up the fact that she got confused about the difference between his house and the clubhouse but Happy thought that was an easy mistake to make if you didn't know they didn't live in the clubhouse. He didn't say anything though, obviously. Jax also told them about Catherine saying she failed school, no big deal in Happy's opinion, and that she apologised for almost everything.

"Poor kid," Chibs sighed and took a sip of his beer, "I feel kind of bad for her. The brother seems like a bit of a shit."

"Nah, he's cool," Jax shrugged, "just a rich kid."

Once the conversation about Catherine had been exhausted, they started talking about what had actually been spoken about in the meeting. Jerry had told them that they had run into some trouble with a few of the investors for the project and Mr Duke-Dillinger had made a deal with some pretty bad people to get the funding for it so they would need to at least lower the amount of money the sons were being paid. Clay hadn't let them pull out of the 'protection order' or even lower the amount they would be being paid but nobody had expected that he would; Mr Duke-Dillinger and Jerry were just going to have to find a way to both fund the project and pay the SOA.

"You heard she's never had a boyfriend?" Tig asked in that same conspiratorial voice that he always used when he was talking about her, "imagine that? How old is she, 18?"

"23," Jax corrected.

"23." Tig mused, "I cant even remember being 23."

"That's 'cause you're an old bastard!" Chibs laughed.

Tig's offended face made Happy smile and the other guys laugh.

((I want to split up the story but FFN will literally not let me do anything that I usually do so here))

It was a few days until they heard from the family again. Catherine had driven her car into the TM lot, dog in the passenger seat with Mr Duke-Dillinger following in his sports car. The younger woman stepped out, tossing her golden blonde hair over her shoulder and waiting until Romeo jumped out before slamming the door shut. As soon as Happy saw her he ducked into the mechanics store room to 'look for something' as she went towards the office, shoes clomping over the concrete and Romeo skipping by her ankles. Mr Duke-Dillinger waited until his daughter reappeared with Gemma to get out of his car, asking where Clay was.

Happy peered out from the doorway of the storeroom to watch the blonde girl talk to Jax, looking slightly sad and a whole lot more angry. She had her arms folded and her left hip jutting out to one side and her foot tapping on the ground. When he looked down at her bare legs, he noticed a dark blue/purple bruise just under the leg of her shorts. Happy had seen, and caused, enough bruises in his life to recognise it as it being from someone holding onto her too tightly. It would have caused her pain and that made him feel even worse. Who would want to hurt her? He had his suspicions but even Happy knew to have some restraint from going out and punching a rich guy in the face.

"What are you doing in here?!" He heard a quiet, British voice ask from the other side of the door, it was Viv, Chibs' old lady, daughter of Clay Morrow and one of Happy's closest and most trusted friends, "Hap?"

"Nothing," Happy said with only a slight jump of surprise, "just looking for-" he picked up a car rag, "this. Why?"

"Because," Viv laughed and leant against the doorway, "it looks like you're spying on that girl."

"I'm not spying."

Viv followed Happy as he walked back over to the car he was working on and started polishing a random section but keeping his eyes on Catherine. Viv chuckled and Happy knew she had seen right through him, like she always did, and folded her arms.

"If you like her, go talk to her."

"I don't. I don't even know her."

"Liar! You've not taken your eyes off her since she came in! Who is she?"

Happy sighed and quietly informed his friend about who she was, about how she had spoken to his dog and the first time he noticed her pretty grey eyes in the light of a broken vending machine. His friend was looking at him with a small, fond smile and leaning her back against the car so that he was blocked from Catherine's line of sight to hide how he was blushing slightly and had a smile of his own on his face.

"Oh, hey Mr Lowman!" they heard Catherine say, "I didn't see you there! How are you?"

Happy looked up and saw Catherine stood behind him. He prayed she hadn't heard him talking about her but she didn't seem too. He nodded a greeting to her and Viv shot him a smug smile before letting them know that she needed to help her dad with… something and leaving them too it.

"Wow," Catherine breathed, "she's really pretty! She your girlfriend?"

"No," Happy said quickly, "she's Chibs' lady."

She looked at him with a confused expression, that he thought was incredibly cute, and shook her head. Obviously, she didn't know who Chibs was even though she had met him at least twice before but he guessed she probably didn't care either; she only knew who he was because her nanny made her talk to him and he had a dog.

"Hey Hap? You seen Viv? She said she'd be here but…" Chibs said, coming towards them, "hi Lass, you alright? I hope you're ok after the other day."

Catherine looked up at him with the same confused expression she had given Happy. The Scotsman looked between her and Happy with a raised eyebrow after she hadn't said anything after she hadn't spoken for a while. Happy felt himself smile slightly; the other man must have confused her somehow although he couldn't tell why.

"Chibs," Happy introduced her, gesturing towards the other man then back to her, "Catherine."

Realisation dawned on the girls face and she stuck her hand out to shake his. Romeo sniffed around Happy's feet before settling down to sit on his left foot, watching his momma and wagging his tail.

"Are you German?" Catherine asked him when she got her hand back.

Chibs, possibly the most Scottish person Happy had ever met, laughed but then stopped quickly once he realised she was being serious. He shuffled to rest his weight on one foot and put his hands on his hips, classic Chibs.

"Am I German?" He asked her, humour in his voice.

"I don't know," Catherine shrugged but she wasn't being sarcastic, "are you German? You sound kind of weird and I think you _are_ German."

"No sweet pea. I'm Scottish…"

"From Scotland," Happy clarified when her confused expression returned.

"I know where Scottish people live, Mr Lowman," she laughed and rolled her eyes; looking at him with a small smile.

Chibs blinked in confusion. He started to see what people meant when they said she wasn't the brightest of people but Happy almost looked like he was smiling; he found her funny.

"But I live _here_ ," Chibs said then immediately regretted it when she looked around the work area, "in America, I mean. Not… here."

"Oh. Me too! Did it take you long to learn English? I could literally _never_ learn a new language"

Happy covered his mouth with his hand to hide the grin that was now fully formed on his face. Chibs had no words to even try to begin explaining to her about how Scottish people do speak English but there is also a language of their own but few people speak it. Just then, Viv came over shouting for Chibs but calling him Filip and this set a whole new level of confusion on Catherine's face.

"There you are!" Viv scolded Chibs, "I have been looking everywhere for you Filip! What have you been doing? Are you ready to go?"

"I thought your name was Chibs?" Catherine asked, her frown deepening and her arms crossing over her chest, she looked extremely stressed, "I just- what? And you're not American, you're British?"

Happy bit back his laughter, pressing his hand tighter to his mouth. Chibs looked at him with a really lost look on his face and Viv was smiling at Catherine. Viv nodded and told her that she grew up in England so yes, she was British before patiently explaining to her about Chibs' nickname and how he got it; telling her his real name was Filip but the guys called him Chibs.

"Oh sweetheart," Chibs smiled kindly, "I've really confused you, haven't I?"

Happy glared at him when Catherine hung her head, trying to hide her blush beneath her hair. He was angry that she was embarrassed when it was a kind of complicated thing to think about.

"Oh Mr Lowman," she sighed, looking up at him with wide, confused eyes, "my brain feels hot."

He pressed his lips together and nodded at her with understanding. At least _he_ understood why she found it so confusing. She nodded back at him with furrowed eyebrows and creases on her forehead. Chibs looked between them now, finally understanding what was happening. Viv stepped forwards and put her hand on Catherine's shoulder.

"Why don't," Viv said with a mischievous glance at Happy who shook his head at her with slightly wide eyes, "you come to a party on Friday? You can bring your brother if you like? I assume you won't be drinking so you can come for a diet coke and a bit of a dance, yeah? You'll have fun, I promise."

"Oh, Mrs Chibs, I don't think that would be a good idea! I don't think Daddy would like it if I came to a party here."

"You're a grown up, right? Why not? It's not like your Dad can control you forever. Besides, it'll do you good to get out and meet people from Charming."

Happy knew Catherine wouldn't be able to say no to Viv; if she had all of the Sons wrapped around her finger and doing what she said, Catherine had no chance. The blonde girl thought for a moment before nodding with a smile. Happy wasn't sure whether to be pleased or worried that she would be joining them for Friday night.

"Right, _Mrs Chibs,_ " the scot said and tugged her arm, "we've got a table booked. Let's go. See you on Friday, Catherine."

"Bye! Thanks for the invite Mr and Mrs Chibs. See you on Friday."

Happy smiled again at how adorably confused she was. What was even more endearing is that she was so convinced she had everything right. He tapped her on the arm as she waved goodbye to the couple. When she looked at him, she was smiling; obviously over her previous confusion. He pointed to where her dad was leaving the office with papers in his hands and her face fell.

"Oh," she said, "I forgot about that. I can't believe Daddy is selling my car to Mr Morrow just because Romeo bit Uncle Jerry. It's literally so unfair. It wasn't his fault! Uncle Jerry shouldn't have tried to stop me from walking out; if he hadn't done that he wouldn't have been hurt. You know?"

He glanced down at the bruise on the top of her thigh and scowled. Perhaps it was this Jerry that had hurt her. He could ask her on Friday once he had had a beer or two, for courage. If her dog had bit the man than he was obviously not a good person. You should always trust a dog's judge of character; they know the difference between a good and bad person.

"Ugh, and now I have to get _a job._ What am I supposed to do, Mr Lowman? I wish I was clever, I could have like, any job I wanted if I was clever."

"Hey," Happy interrupted her, "just 'cause you ain't good at math doesn't mean you ain't clever."

She looked at him like she was going to cry but she didn't look sad. It was like she hadn't heard that before and Happy wasn't sure where to look. He didn't want to look at her; he wasn't good with crying women but at the same time he didn't just want to leave her to cry in the middle of the workshop. He put his hand on her hair and ruffled the perfect blonde curls into a mess with a slight smile until she laughed and pushed his hand away gently. She ducked out from under his hand with another laugh and straightened out her hair as best as she could. He was happy he had made her smile and wanted to make her laugh more.

"Thank you, Mr Lowman," she said, still smiling up at him, "that- that's really nice of you."

He nodded but then looked to his left as her dad shouted her over. Happy noticed the quiet growl that came from her dog, even if she didn't. Catherine huffed and stamped her foot slightly before turning to say goodbye to Happy and pick up her dog. Happy nodded a farewell and watched after her as she walked slowly over to her dad.

"Are you kidding?!" She suddenly shouted, "I don't even get the money for it? Daddy!"

"Get in the car sweetheart, we'll talk about it later," Mr Duke-Dillinger hissed, looking around with a frown, "come on, in."

Catherine huffed, stamping her foot again and got in the passenger side of the sports car. Happy didn't miss the glare he received off of Mr Duke-Dillinger but he made sure to fix him with the darkest look he could muster, smirking when the man went pale and looked away. He kept his eyes on the car as it backed out of the lot and drove away.

Once it was gone, Happy stalked across to the office to talk to Clay and Jax. When he stepped in they stopped talking and looked at him.

"What happened?" he asked them.

"Mr Duke-Dillinger just exchanged her car for a month's worth of protection. They are gonna run out of money eventually," Clay said with a smirk as he leant back in his chair, "poor little rich girl is gonna have to get a job and work for once in her life."

They chuckled when Happy left wordlessly and with a slight scowl on his face.

((I want to split up the story but FFN will literally not let me do anything that I usually do so here))

 **Catherine POV**

I sat with my arms folded as Daddy gave me a stern talking to. He was talking about boring things like responsibility and working and being an adult. The doors of the car had been locked so I couldn't get out when he reached a red light, like I had planned, and _had_ to listen to him talk at me. I nodded and made agreeing noises as he spoke to make it seem like I was listening but I was actually thinking about Mr Lowman and Mrs and Mr Chibs. They were nice, even if they did confuse me. Mr Lowman had been really nice to me when he didn't need too. I smiled when I thought back to when he messed up my hair; he had been more gentle than I had expected him to be. He had smiled at me too and that was nice.

"Are you listening Catherine?" Daddy asked harshly.

"Yes Daddy," I said automatically.

Then he continued to talk until we got home. As soon as the doors were unlocked I jumped out with Romeo in my arms and stormed through the front door to go up to my room. Greta came in not long after and sat with me on the bed, asking if I wanted to play the piano with her but all I wanted to do was eat and sleep.

The next day, I was trawling around the streets of Charming, looking into all of the businesses asking if there were any jobs but it was like no one wanted to hire me. I guess they could tell I was stupid just by looking at me.

"Try in here Miss Cat," Greta said and pointed to a door.

"Nanny, that's a strip club," I sighed in defeat, "I don't think Daddy would be happy about me being a stripper. Come on, I'll try that diner."

"It's called The Velvet Lounge Miss Cat. That doesn't sound like just any strip club. Besides, what's wrong with being a stripper? I was a stripper at your age and I made good money."

I looked back at her with a laugh. Nothing surprised me about Greta anymore. Before I could say anything she was shuffling inside with her handbag clutched in her arm and looking around curiously. I sighed and followed her inside and was surprised by how classy it all looked. It was also pretty full considering it was a Wednesday afternoon. It was also not a strip club; it was more of a high class bar with lots of people in suits and ladies in dresses all talking quietly with fancy drinks in their hands. I looked around, amazed at the fact I had never been in here before; it looks like the kind of place that Daddy and Jerry would love to come too.

I followed Greta over to the bar to talk to the bartender. He looked at her with a polite smile and then at me. I smiled back. He was a relatively young guy but older than me; he was maybe about 35ish?

"Hello young man," Greta said, "is there someone I can talk too about getting my lovely Miss Cat here a job? A manager perhaps?"

"Oh," the guy said, "yeah sure! I'm actually the owner, my name it Theo Martin. It's nice to meet you, Miss Cat."

"Please," I laughed at Greta and held out my hand for him to shake, "call me Catherine. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Catherine," Theo repeated, "pleasure's all mine. What kind of thing were you looking to do? We've got an opening for a cocktail waiter or waitress? Have you done this kind of thing before?"

"Oh… well, no not really. I mean, I have had things served to me?"

Theo laughed and nodded. Greta sat herself onto a bar stool while I talked to Theo. He explained to me about the job; pointing out a couple of people dressed in waistcoats and ties walking around with silver trays in their hands. They were walking around the tables and then coming back to the bar to pick up drinks and to go back to the main seating area. He asked me about myself, where I'm from and stuff, what experience I had (which was none) and my career plans. I hadn't really thought that far ahead; Daddy said I would just marry a rich guy and run a household so that's kind of what I was gonna do. I didn't say that though. Theo seemed to like me because he offered for me to have a trial shift waitressing.

"You think it's something you would like to do?" He asked and I nodded enthusiastically, "good, so you wanna come for your trial on Friday, 12pm sound good?"

"Yeah! Yeah definitely, I can't wait!" I smiled and nodded.

"Alright then Catherine, I'll see you Friday afternoon."

"Thanks Mr Martin, see you Friday!"

I skipped out of the door of the lounge, blinking in the sunlight and laughing. I couldn't believe I had a job, a trial at least. I just hoped I would be good at it. Greta hugged me once the door shut and we cheered, giggling and gently pushing each other.

"Well done Miss Cat!" she exclaimed, "I'm so proud of you!"

We went for a coffee and an ice cream to celebrate. I didn't even feel bad for having sugar; it was like Mrs Chibs said, I am an adult after all.

((I want to split up the story but FFN will literally not let me do anything that I usually do so here))

 **CUTIES!-** what do we think? huh? Mr Lowman has seen her bruises, is she gonna go to the club party or will she chicken out of going against her dad? is Happy going to finally say something over 2 words to her? will he get drunk and go in for a kiss or will he be too scared?

Are we proud of me for posting this instead of procrastinating? I know we are!

Anyway, thanks for all of your encouragement! You are lovely!

Jeffyzfavoriteskittle27, your review of chapter 3 made me laugh because that's kind of how I wanted people to see her! Like, I wanted to convey the fact that she has literally no idea what the real world is like!

See you in the next one!

Love, Doe

xxxxxx


	7. Chapter 6 - No, I'm a Vegetarian

Chapter 6 – no, I'm a vegetarian

Work was really hard. I never actually realised how hard it was before my trial shift at The Velvet Lounge. It wasn't like, mentally hard but my whole body hurt after about 2 hours and my feet were killing me. I was told that all I had to do was take drinks from the bar to the table which was easy enough but I couldn't sit down until I had been there for 4 hours. It was horrible but literally everyone else that worked there was _so_ nice! I met a few people from town and they were really friendly and funny. I had been partnered with a girl called Katherine (with a K) which had made me laugh. She said that people called her Kathy though.

At 7pm I was told that Theo wanted to see me. I dropped my last tray of drinks down to table 5 and skipped over to the bar where he had been working all afternoon, making drinks and greeting people. On my way up I saw about 4 girls walking passed me with what looked like dance bags. Weird but I didn't think too much about it.

"You wanted to see me?" I asked Theo as I approached.

"Hey Catherine," he greeted easily, "how are you doing?"

"Oh my feet are in so much pain!"

Theo laughed and nodded, telling me that it was bound to happen after 5 hours on my feet without a sit down. I had nodded as more girls with bags walked by. I looked at them confused and they smiled and waved at me as they walked by. I waved back then turned back to Theo

"So," Theo continued, "how would you feel about coming back the same time tomorrow? I've spoken to the other girls and some of the guests and everyone seems to really like you."

"Really?" I asked in disbelief, "me?"

Theo laughed and nodded, "yes, you."

"Oh gosh! I mean, yeah. Yeah I'd love too!"

"Great! You can get going now if you want, rest up a bit before tomorrow."

"Thanks! Thank you _so_ much Theo! See you tomorrow."

I smiled then turned to make my way to the staffroom to grab my stuff. On my way through I saw Kathy talking to some of the girls with the bags. I told her I was going but going back the next day and it turns out she was as well. I was kind of grateful that she would be in so she could show me how to do everything again; I know it wasn't hard but still…

I waved to them all then to Theo as I walked out the front door. It was Friday. I had been invited by Mrs Chibs to a party with that motorcycle club. I can't believe I had forgotten about it but I guess I had been so busy with learning how to work that I wasn't even thinking about it. As I hurried home I called Jack to tell him to get dressed because we had been invited to a party. When he asked whose I told him Jax and I could almost hear his heart beat speed up at the mention of the older man's name. It didn't matter how much I told him that Jax would never go for him because Jack was _way_ too young for him and Jax wasn't gay or even bi (we think), my brother still kept hoping he would be noticed. It was kinda cute though to be honest.

"You think I should wear my leather jacket?" Jack asked, "would it be too much? Like, try hard?"

"Uh, yeah," I scoffed, "just wear a cute shirt and jeans. If you wear a leather jacket you would look stupid. I'm just gonna wear shorts and a cute top. You think I should wear boots or wedges?"

"I dunno. You think I know anything about girl clothes? Just wear whatever is quick to put on. What are we gonna tell Dad?"

"That we're going to a party with Jax and his sister?"

"Uh no. You really think he's gonna be happy about us going to a party with the people that are making him lose money? Nah. I'll tell him I've been invited to a high school party and you're coming because… I dunno, you're worried about me drinking alcohol. I'll tell him now, just be quick. Bye."

"Bye."

I hung up and put my phone in my handbag as I almost ran back to the house. I had no idea what time this party started but I guessed these guys were big drinkers and would start early. As long as we were there between 7 and 9 we should be fine.

Finally, I got home and Jack literally pounced on me. He was already dressed and ready to go. I wasn't even through the door and he was already pulling me up the stairs to get showered and stuff. I told him that I needed to feed Romeo and talk to Greta about my day but he didn't want to listen to me. I just gave up with a sigh and dragged my feet towards my shower. Jack told me he was going to feed Romeo for me while I got ready. I made sure to lock my bedroom door then the bathroom door, just in case you know?

I washed away all the alcohol smell out of my hair and off of my skin. I was just thinking random things like, about how I basically had a job and Katherine with a K, Kathy. She was nice, I liked her. She showed me how to do everything and introduced me to everyone. I still wondered what those ladies with the dance bags were doing though. I loved dancing; I wanted to dance with them if that was even what they were doing.

"Come on Catherine!" Jack shouted through the door, "you've been in there for an hour! I want to get there early and talk to Jax."

I laughed to myself, finished washing the conditioner out of my hair and wrapped the towel around my body only to see Jack sat on my bed and my bedroom door wide open. My heart thumped in my chest and I shouted at my brother for leaving it open and even coming in in the first place.

"Jack," I scolded, "how did you even get in?"

"Dad gave Uncle Jerry the key," Jack shrugged and looked up at me, "I just got it off him if I promised to bring it back."

Why does Uncle Jerry have a key to my room? Why did Daddy have a key? Only I should have a key to my room. Maybe Greta, but not Daddy or Uncle Jerry. Especially Uncle Jerry. I looked at my door unsurely and held the towel closer to my body and shifted uncomfortably.

"Come on Catherine," Jack sighed again, "it's gonna take you forever to get ready if you just stand there."

"Can you get out?" I asked, trying to hide the shake in my voice, "I can't get changed if you're here."

Jack rolled his eyes and stood up, leaving the room. I heard the lock click as he locked it again. What was the point in even having a lock if everyone else but you had a key. I tried to forget about it and concentrate on getting a cute outfit together. I had literally no clue what the dress code was going to be but Jack looked kind of smart-casual. I wanted to look pretty though. I was deciding between a cute dress or a crop top and skirt combination. The second one made me look more grown up though. It was a dark red silk top and skirt, you know like matching. It was kind of slutty but I knew that Daddy and Mom wouldn't mind that the skirt was kind of short and the top was really low cut if I wore some like, short black bicycle shorts underneath to hide my underwear. I looked kind of good once my hair and makeup was done. I added on a pretty diamond choker and some black high heels and I was good to go.

I was ready just in time for Jack to tell me that the cab was outside. I sneaked out of my room, looking around for Uncle Jerry or Daddy but they must have been in the office though because there was no one downstairs except for Jack. I made sure to collect my clutch bag with my money and phone, how was I supposed to buy myself and Jack cokes if I had no money, you know?

" _Come on_ ," Jack stressed and pulled me outside.

((I want to split up the story but FFN will literally not let me do anything that I usually do so here))

 **Happy/3** **rd** **Person POV**

Viv had been hassling him all day about the party that evening and Happy was getting reasonably annoyed but wasn't brave enough to argue with her about it; he knew she would only tell him off for shouting at her.

"Are you nervous?" She asked him in a moment of seriousness, "I know you like her."

"I don't get nervous," he told her with a shrug, and it was true, "and I don't like her."

Viv snorted with quiet laughter and he just glared at her. She shot him a sympathetic smile and put her hand on his arm, rubbing it gently. He knew that she knew that he was lying but didn't want to say anything. Viv knew him too well, it seemed.

"She's a vegetarian," he told her quietly, "that doesn't believe in killing things. That's what I do for a job."

The young woman was obviously speechless; she didn't know what to say to make him feel better about that. Happy knew it was bad when Vivania, who was one of his best friends and was almost like his club mother, didn't have any advice for him. She settled for giving him another gentle pat on the arm and a small, sympathetic nod as Chibs approached to kiss her cheek.

Happy looked away, back to his beer and sighed softly. He liked Catherine; he thought she was pretty and adorable when she got confused. Happy knew though that on the small chance that she did like him back as much as he liked her, she would run a mile when she found out what he did for a living; he was probably not even the kind of guy she would go for. She would probably go for a guy like Jax if any of them, he thought, since he was blonde with blue eyes but also charming. All the things that Happy knew he wasn't. He didn't know how to flirt with women, he never needed too; they just seemed drawn to him.

"Come on Hap," Chibs chuckled, slapping him on the shoulder light heartedly, "cheer up. I've got a lot of money on you tonight, don't forget."

Happy had forgotten. One of the hangarounds had been out talking shit a couple of weeks before saying that he would be able to beat Happy in a fight but when Chibs had called him out on it, he was getting even more aggressive. Happy hadn't even said he would do it, Chibs had just bet the guy $200 that he would be able to beat him. He hadn't cared; he was gonna win the fight easily, even if the guy was a pro-wrestler, but now he knew that Catherine was going to be there to see it he wasn't so sure about it anymore. Catherine didn't seem like the kind of girl that would appreciate violence, especially when it was bare knuckle fighting with little to no rules. He just had to make sure he won by a landslide.

He tried not to wonder whether she would look after him when he inevitably took a few hits to the face. It didn't work though. Happy was imagining her pretty eyes looking at him in the rabbit in headlights kind of way and that she always did, he thought about how she would probably be so gentle with him, she would be too gentle for a guy like him. He found himself smiling at the thought.

Suddenly, something shiny caught his eye from across the room and his mouth fell open when he saw her walking into the bar wearing clothes that actually made her look like an adult instead of a kid. She looked beautiful, he thought, he had never thought anyone was beautiful before but Catherine was. She looked expensive. Her entire outfit and jewellery probably cost more than his rent for the month.

"Hey Cat!" Jax shouted, waving and beckoning her over to where he was sat with Tig and Clay.

Clay stood up and moved to the bar when Jax had shouted the two Duke-Dillinger's over. That left three seats. Viv grabbed Happy's arm and pulled him over with her, pushing him towards the chair beside Catherine while her and Chibs cuddled up in the corner of the booth. Jax rolled his eyes with a smile and Chibs winked at him. Happy averted his gaze from the happy couple and looked down at Catherine. She was smiling and talking to Jax and Viv, unaware of Happy's gaze and the looks that other partygoers were giving her. Happy wasn't nervous like Viv thought; he just didn't know what to say to make her talk to him. She seemed happy enough to talk to Viv, Jax and Chibs.

"Oh my gosh!" She gasped suddenly, looking down at her phone screen then back up to her brother, "Jack! Maddi Christie just commented on my new picture! What do I do?"

"Who?" Jack asked with a frown.

"Maddi Christie! You know, tall, blonde, getting married to a like, famous footballer or whatever. She was like, _so_ popular in school. She came to my 21st birthday? We were, like, friends and stuff until she slept with Hannah's boyfriend and there was just… all this drama. You don't remember?"

Jack looked as confused as Happy felt. Did it matter who had commented on a new picture?

"Oh Mr Lowman," Catherine sighed, looking at him for the first time, "what should I write? Here, look."

Happy lent over to look at her phone to see a picture of her on some social media site or other. She looked like a model, he thought. She wasn't smiling, looking almost seductive and sexy as she posed underneath a light that he recognised as one that was on the wall outside the club house. Underneath someone had typed "you look beautiful babe, meet up soon? xxxxxxxx" with a bunch of weird picture things and hearts. Happy looked at her and shook his head. He had absolutely no idea what any of that meant.

"What if," she had turned back to Viv and Chibs, "I just put like, thank you and some kissy faces? You think that would be ok?"

"Yeah sure," Chibs shrugged and smiled at her, "go for it."

"Ugh, what if she wants to meet up though? Like, I don't _mind_ her coming here but I don't know if I want to deal with all that drama, you know? Shall I just put, 'thanks babe, lets arrange something for when I get back to la' with kisses and hearts?"

Happy didn't know why it was such a big deal but it seemed like it mattered to her so he decided he would take it seriously, her brother, Viv and Chibs didn't look like they were taking her seriously. He reached over for her phone. Surprisingly, she let him take it and lent closer to him as she watched what he was doing. Mostly he was just looking through the cute little smiley faces on the bottom of the screen.

"Mr Lowman?"

"Hang on," Happy said, concentrating on the social media.

He typed out a simple, "thanks, will let you know when I'm in LA" and put some X's afterwards, eight like the other girl had put and showed her the screen. She looked over it and smiled with a nod before taking her phone back and showing him the things that she called "emoji's" and told him what they were for. Happy was genuinely interested and listened intently as she talked to him as she chose the correct ones that fit the mood of the message.

When he had glanced up, he saw Viv looking at him with a pleased smile and gave him a thumbs up while Chibs and Jax talked to the teenager. Happy sent a small smile and a nod before turning back to look at Catherine's phone.

"Hey," an unfamiliar voice said, "you a croweater?"

Happy looked up at the same time the Catherine did to see a kind of drunk man stood behind Jax and Jack. Catherine frowned slightly, clearly not knowing what that meant and Happy felt his blood boil at the thought of her becoming a croweater.

"Oh, no thank you," Catherine said with a smile, "I'm vegetarian."

She thought he was talking about an actual person that eats crows. Happy thought it was cute. There was a moment of quiet as her comment sunk in then everyone burst into laughter, everyone except for Happy. He saw that she was looking around at the people around the table with a blush on her cheeks and a small frown on her face and she swallowed, clasping her hands in her lap then looked shyly over to Happy and she looked a bit happier to see that he hadn't laughed at her.

"Mr Lowman?" She asked quietly, "have I just been really dumb again?"

Happy scowled and waved the guy away angrily before turning in his chair to face her fully. She straightened up and looked at him hopefully.

"No Catherine," he reassured her with a small shake of his head.

She smiled. She seemed to love it when he had said she wasn't dumb just like a few days ago. He wanted to make sure that she never felt dumb because she wasn't. Just because her dad and brother told her she was and treated her like a little kid, it didn't mean she was stupid. She just didn't really get some things as quickly as other people did. He gently patted her on the head, careful not to mess up her hair this time and she laughed but didn't pull away. Her eyes were sparkling now and she looked happy. Maybe she did like him.

Eventually, Jax had taken Jack to show him around the clubhouse since the teenager was looking bored with just talking but his face had lit up when the concept of spending time alone with Jax was mentioned. Catherine had seemed to perk up after Chibs had told her what a croweater was.

"So they're like your own personal prostitutes? But like, free?" She asked him, nodding when he did to make sure she had got it right.

"Not for me Lass," Chibs laughed, "I've got my girl here. She would kill me if I went with anyone else."

"Uh huh," Viv agreed, "the other girl too."

"What about you Mr Lowman?" She asked, turning to him, "do you sleep with them?"

Happy didn't know what to say, just gulped and blinked at her.

"I'm not gonna judge you Mr Lowman," she clarified, putting her hand on his arm just as gently as he imagined she would be.

Happy looked up, panicked, at Viv and Chibs who were smirking at him.

"Yeah," Happy admitted, "sometimes."

"Cool. Hey Mr and Mrs Chibs? How long have you been married? You're like super cute together and I am so jealous."

They laughed and Happy felt a small sense of relief when she turned back to the couple. She was looking at them with a kind and warm expression that Happy couldn't stop looking at. Chibs and Viv laughed. They loved her.

"We're not actually married sweetheart," Chibs told her, then lent forwards when Catherine looked embarrassed, "but we might as well be right Sweet Girl?"

Viv smiled with a nod, "yeah. We've been together for a couple of years now."

They started telling her about how they met and Catherine was on the edge of her seat with her hands covering her heart and smiling the entire time they talked through their memories together, leaving out all of the illegal and potentially scary details of course. A couple of times she would wipe tears away from her eyes.

What is happening? Happy thought, why was he so captivated by her?

"That's _so_ cute! I can't believe how cute you are! I'm literally crying!"

The couple laughed with her and Happy couldn't help but feel jealous how easily they were talking to her. He was content just listening to her though.

((I want to split up the story but FFN will literally not let me do anything that I usually do so here))

 **Catherine POV**

I was literally in love with Mr and Mrs Chibs. Mr Chibs was such a _dad_ and Mrs Chibs was so obviously such a mom kind of person. I wanted them to be my parents. They didn't get angry when I was being stupid; they were just really nice and patient and I think I could trust them a lot. I think Mr Chibs looked like he would be really clever.

"Hey, Mr Chibs?" I asked him, interrupting his conversation with Mrs Chibs, "do you know lots of stuff?"

"Uh, that depends sweetheart. What do you need?" Mr Chibs asked, looking at me with a raised eyebrow while I shuffled in my seat.

"Well," I looked around and saw that Jack was still talking to some people at the other side of the room, "I- ok. Do you know anything about like… locks and stuff?"

"What kind of things about them?"

"Like, changing them. I have a lock on my bedroom door but Daddy and Uncle Jerry have a key so when I go to bed and stuff, I lock the door but then I found out that they had a key so there was kind of no point in it, you know?"

I looked between Mr and Mrs Chibs to Mr Lowman. Mr Lowman was looking at me kind of angrily and I shrunk away from him, not wanting to be looked at like that.

"Why are you locking your door sweetheart?" Mrs Chibs asked me, "has something happened? We're not gonna tell your dad or brother, don't worry."

I swallowed and looked away. I didn't want to tell them about how I was scared of how Uncle Jerry had grabbed my leg and how I was scared of what else he might do or be doing if he ever came into my room at night. Mr Lowman said my name and I looked up at him. He was looking at me kind of concerned and I found myself spilling out all my worries to him and Mr and Mrs Chibs; telling them all about it and even pulling up my skirt to show Mr Lowman the darkish bruise on my upper thigh. I tried not to cry but I couldn't really hide it.

"Oh sweetheart," Mrs Chibs said gently and put her hand on mine, "we're gonna see what we can do ok?"

I nodded and thanked her a lot, like way too much and she smiled at me with Mr Chibs nodding thoughtfully and when I looked over to Mr Lowman he was still looking at my leg and frowning. I went to recover my thigh with my skirt but he put his hand on my leg to stop me. he tugged it back up and held my knee, moving it so that I was facing him and he could take a closer look at it.

"Mr Lowman…" I mumbled, "it's not that bad, right?"

"He grabbed you here?" he asked, putting his hand over the obvious finger marks on my leg.

I swallowed and looked at him in shock. I had been scared when Uncle Jerry had grabbed me but when Mr Lowman had, I wasn't. It was kind of weird but I think I knew that Mr Lowman was a good man, you know? I mean, he saved a dog's life. I mean, I thought that Uncle Jerry was a good man too though. When I realised I hadn't actually replied to him, I nodded silently.

"It's ok though Mr Lowman, don't worry. Uncle Jerry hasn't ever done it before and I've basically known him since I was born. He sees me like a daughter, I think anyway," I said quickly, "and he's always been really kind to me. It was once though, you know? I probably should have just done as I was told and not have tried to leave, ok?"

Mr Lowman shook his head angrily and I looked back down to where his hand was still on my leg but Mr Lowman put his hand on my cheek. I jumped slightly and felt my face go red and I think I stopped breathing when he forced me to look up at him. His face was kind of hard to read but I think he was angry. I don't think he was angry with me though.

"No one is allowed to do that to you," he said quietly, "you're an adult. You do what you want. No one controls what you do."

I felt tears in my eyes and running down my cheeks. No one had ever said that to me before. Daddy always told me what to do and I did as I was told. That's just how it was. I lent forwards slowly and put my arms around his neck; pulling him so that I was hugging him tightly. The only other person that I had ever hugged (other than Daddy and Uncle Jerry) was Jax that one time after that meeting. I was nervous but just kind of buried my face in his shoulder and sighed.

"Thank you Mr Lowman," I whispered to him, "but Daddy said that when I get married-"

"You don't belong to anyone," he said to me, reading my mind, "you belong to you."

I was about to pull away from him when his arms went around my waist and one of his hands stroked my hair and patted the back of my head gently. I think he was maybe nervous about hugging me too? I don't know but he was kind of hesitating when he was doing it. I liked it though. He was strong feeling, you know? I felt… safe. I don't know what I felt safe from.

"Hey Hap- oh shit, sorry. You ok? The ring is all set up for you…" it was Jax.

I pulled away from Mr Lowman and looked away embarrassed and red faced. I don't know what they were talking about but when Mr Lowman took my hand in his I looked up. He wasn't looking at me though; he was looking at Jax. I blinked, shocked when he stood up and gently pulled me up with him. I followed him wordlessly as he dragged/led me through the crowd and smiled when he noticed me almost running to keep up with him so he slowed down.

"Mr Lowman?" I asked him quietly, "where are we going?"

"The ring," he said with a shrug, "I'm fighting tonight."

"Really? Are you gonna win?"

He looked down at me with a small smile and nodded. I grinned up at him and let go of his hand to link my arm through his as we walked outside. He led me to the boxing ring that I hadn't noticed before. I had worried that maybe it was too cold but I the small cool breeze was kind of nice on my skin. I watched as he climbed up the small steps to the platform, about to step back into the crowd when he started speaking.

"Come on," he said with a smirk, "you're gonna be my cheerleader."

"I was head cheerleader in high school!" I told him, laughing and trying to hide my blushing cheeks with my hair.

I followed him up the steps, grateful of my safety shorts, and blushed even deeper when he took his white t-shirt off and threw it to me. I gasped when I saw his body. He wasn't like, over muscly like the guys I had seen on Venice Beach but he looked… _strong_. I tried literally so hard not to stare at him but I couldn't help it. He was just covered in muscle and tattoos and I couldn't take my eyes off of him; he was beautiful

"Ready Hap?" Mr Chibs asked from beside me.

I jumped. I hadn't even seen him come up with me. Mr Lowman nodded and jumped over the ropes into the ring and Mr Chibs followed him; I guess he was being the referee.

"This way Cat," Mrs Chibs said, took me to one corner where we stood for the whole fight.

Mrs Chibs was shouting and cheering for Mr Lowman and telling her husband (or not husband I don't know) to be careful. I couldn't look away from the fight no matter how many times Mr Lowman got hit in the face, stomach and chest. It was violent, way more violent than the fights that Daddy watched on the TV. It was so scary but the way Mr Lowman moved around the other guy, in the same way I had seen tigers on documentaries do, made me feel kind of… warm I guess. I swallowed and flinched as Mr Lowman hit the other man so hard in the mouth that he spun around and fell to the floor in a heap. The roar from the watching crowd was deafening and I had literally forgotten that they were even there.

I joined in, clapping politely as Mr Lowman lifted his arms in the air in victory. He was covered in sweat and blood which I would have usually found disgusting but I was mostly worried about him. He looked bad even though he didn't look like he was that concerned about it. When he walked over, leaning against the ropes in front of me and breathing heavily, I looked down at his bloody knuckles then back up to his face.

"Mr Lowman," I whispered, looking up at him with wide eyes, "you're… you're beautiful."

He looked surprised then let out a small sigh.

"Mrs Chibs?" I asked her, "do you have a first aid kit? I think Mr Lowman needs medical attention."

"Yeah of course. Come on Hap."

((I want to split up the story but FFN will literally not let me do anything that I usually do so here))

 **Happy/3** **rd** **Person POV**

It was everything Happy had wanted it to be. Catherine hadn't shied away from him after the fight and she didn't look too scared. She actually looked impressed and she had called him beautiful and now she was tending to his many wounds gently and carefully.

"You're doing pretty good there Lass," Chibs said, sipping his whiskey.

"Thanks Mr Chibs," Catherine said with a smile but didn't take her eyes off of the cut on Happy's temple, "I was trained as a paramedic, you know? Surprised? I volunteered with an ambulance crew for like, 2 years after high school but it was so stressful. I hated it. It was useful though you know? Jack used to get beaten up a lot."

Happy and Chibs exchanged looks; thinking the same thing. That it would be extremely useful to the club and its members when they were ever in trouble and couldn't get to a hospital/if Tara wasn't available. Chibs nodded, signalling that he would speak to Clay about it.

"No way, how are you so innocent?" Viv asked her from where she was sat on Chibs' knee, "you're a vegetarian; you've never dated and you volunteered to help sick and injured people."

Catherine shrugged like it was nothing but Happy had been thinking very similar thoughts. He felt kind of panicked when Chibs and Viv stood up and left to sit with Jax and Jack; letting him have some time with the girl they suspected he liked.

"Don't take this the wrong way, Mr Lowman, but you're kinda scary. Not really scary, but kind of scary. I've not offended you right?"

Happy shook his head, wanting her to explain.

"Ok cool because that's not what I mean, I don't know what I want to say. I just- I don't know."

"I'm different," Happy nodded in understanding.

"Yeah! Yeah no totally! You're literally so different to everyone we knew in LA, you know? Like they were so… empty."

"Empty?" Happy chuckled and she nodded with a small laugh herself as she sat down in the chair across from him.

She reached out and hesitantly put her hand in his arm to trace his tattoos gently. If she noticed him tense at her touch she didn't show it; instead she gently turned his palm upwards and followed the lines with her finger.

"Plain," she murmured with a nod and looked back up at him, "no tattoos, you know? No personality and stuff. I didn't realise until we came here that they were so boring. Everyone here is so... interesting."

"I'm interesting?" Happy asked with a laugh.

"Yeah totally! You don't think you're interesting?"

Happy shook his head. She was still holding his arm in her hand with her fingers on his palm but she didn't look like she noticed and he wasn't going to pull away; she was so soft and warm. She looked at him with... sympathy, almost like she felt sorry for him.

"That's ok," she giggled, "I'm not very interesting either. We're just two boring people sat at a table."

Then, despite everything, he found himself laughing with her. He could see Viv and Chibs cuddled up in their booth smiling over at him. Viv gave him another thumbs up and Happy rolled his eyes but smiled down at Catherine.

"I don't think you're boring," he told her with a nod.

"You don't?"

He shook his head at her; he found her very intriguing and wanted to know everything about her. She was still looking at him with a smile but then it fell away from her face when she looked behind him towards the door. When Happy turned to look where she was, he stood up immediately in defence of her as Mr Duke-Dillinger and who he assumed was Jerry stalked into the room towards her.

"Catherine Duke-Dillinger," Jerry bellowed across the room, "what the fuck do you think you're doing?!"

Happy saw her flinch out the corner of his eye and felt himself bristle up; ready for another fight. Before Jerry could reach her, Chibs and Clay had stepped forwards, stopping him and talking in low, threatening voices.

"Thanks for a nice evening Mr Lowman," she said quietly and ducked around him to go to her dad who was now roughly dragging Jack away from the pool table towards the door.

"Catherine stop," Happy said quietly, "do you wanna stay?"

She looked conflicted between him, Viv and her dad. Viv had come to stand beside her and put her arm around her while she watched her own dad and her man arguing with the two business men.

"I need to go, Mrs Chibs," Catherine said softly and pulled herself away, "I can't make a scene. I'm sorry. Tonight had been fun though. I'll probably see you around."

As soon as she got close to Jerry, he grabbed her by the arm so hard that she yelped and tried to move away in pain. Happy stepped forwards but Viv grabbed onto his arm, looking up at him and shook her head. He could tell that she was heartbroken about Catherine being in pain, especially since Viv's own childhood was full of that kind of thing.

"You'll get her in more trouble. We'll see her soon though, ok? We need to fix the lock on her door. I don't want her in that house without a safe place."

Happy watched as the two Duke-Dillinger kids got marched out of the clubhouse. It looked like Catherine was crying.

"I'm gonna kill him," Happy growled and let himself get pulled back into the chair while Viv patted his shoulder gently.

Clay ordered all non-members out of the clubhouse, excluding his daughter, and told the members to get into the chapel for an emergency meeting. Happy stood up and rubbed his face, ignoring the stinging on his skin.

 **I'm sorry! –** I didn't desert you I promise! To make up for the lack of activity on here, I made this chapter extra extra long! How interesting that she has some medical training huh? How convenient. She isn't as dumb as we may think she is!

Also apologies because this is gonna be a slow burn romance story! I think it's the best option since Catherine is so innocent and nervous and Happy doesn't know how to express his feelings for her even though he is so in love already, lets be honest!

I kind of love the part where she was showing him emojis and how he took her interests seriously! I think it was really cute!

Anyway, the writers block has gone! I love the way this story is going and it's inspiring me to write more and more! If you wanna see what I have been up too outside of FFN nip across to my tumblr where I have written a shit tone of imagines and stuff!

Thanks for being so patient. See you on the flip side

Lots of love from Doe xxxxx


	8. Chapter 7 - Pitbull and Pomeranian

Chapter 7 – The Pomeranian and the Pitbull

(this is another really fucking cute chapter)

Me and Jack had basically been put under house arrest for 2 weeks after the party with Mr and Mrs Chibs and their friends. Uncle Jerry would take Jack too and from school, wait whenever he had football practice and just take him literally anywhere else. Daddy was in charge of taking me everywhere. I mean, I had at least a bit more freedom because I had to take Romeo out for a walk at least twice a day.

Uncle Jerry had been so weird since I had started working at the lounge. He wanted to know all about who worked there and if they talked to me. I told him about Theo but he was the owner so he had to be friendly, you know? And the other guys that worked there were food servers so I never really spoke to them unless I needed to ask where a table was. Then, _as if_ it was any of his business, he started asking me about Mr Lowman and Mr and Mrs Chibs and all their friends. I told him that they were all really nice people and if they weren't good people then they wouldn't have invited us to the party, right? I mean, Mr and Mrs Chibs had said that they would see about helping me with the lock on my door.

I really wished I had asked Mrs Chibs for her number then I could have called her to ask if she could still help me. I mean, I guessed she probably would because she was a really nice lady and her husband was a dad. Like, a dad kind of person; I don't think they had kids.

"Miss Cat?" I heard Greta say from my doorway, "I need to get going now; I have a bus to catch to the airport."

Sitting up from where I lay sulking on my bed, I looked at her with tears in my eyes. She smiled sadly at me and came to sit beside me, stroking my hair softly and kissing my cheek.

"It's only 2 weeks Miss Cat, I'll be back before you know it. Ok?" she said to me, wiping away the tears on my cheeks.

"I- I got these for your grandkids," I said and stood up to go into my closet to pull out a big bag of toys and clothes, "I hope they're ok."

Greta smiled and took the bag off me. I always made sure that she went with loads of presents and stuff for them when she went to see them. I hadn't really considered how she was going to get them on the plane though. Or the bus. I normally drove her and picked her up two weeks later but since Daddy had sold my car to Mr Morrow I couldn't. I felt really bad about that.

"Do you want me to mail them up?" I asked when I realised how heavy the bag was.

"I think that would be better Miss Cat, yes," Greta chuckled, "thank you. It will probably arrive at Hayley's place before I will."

"Do you have to go?" I asked quietly, "please don't leave me."

She gently put the bag of gifts on the floor and hugged me tightly, cradling my head against her chest and kissing my hair while I buried my face in her shirt. She knew why I didn't want her to go but I also knew that she had to see her family; she missed them a lot and as much as I wanted to believe she thought of me as her family I knew I was just a source of income for her.

"Don't worry, Catherine. You have my number and Hayley's number. I'll give you a call when I get there, ok?"

I nodded sadly and let go of her. I walked her to the bus stop, with Romeo _obviously_ , and waved her off when the bus to the airport came.

I sadly dragged my feet as I made my way home. Then, I heard angry shouting and the skittering of dog claws on the concrete. Romeo started yapping happily and spinning in excited circles. I laughed and turned around just in time to see a white pitbull with holes in his ears running towards me, dragging a chain leash on the ground behind him. I recognised the dog immediately. He only had one eye and scars on his mouth; it was Scrap. I looked around the busy streets but couldn't see Mr Lowman anywhere. I immediately grabbed the leash so the big dog wouldn't run passed me but I didn't seem to need too because he went straight over to Romeo and they started sniffing each other and Romeo yapped happily at the bigger dog. The size difference between the Pomeranian and the Pitbull was literally the funniest thing and I couldn't help but laugh at it; the top of Romeo's ears came up to the bottom of Scrap's chest.

"Where's your daddy, Scrap?" I asked, like he was going to answer, "where did you come from?"

Obviously he wasn't going to answer me so I looked up and down the road, listening closely for the angry shouts.

"Scrap?!" It was definitely Mr Lowman although I had only ever heard him speak really quietly to me, "where the fuck are you?!"

I laughed and started to walk towards the sound of his voice. I made sure Romeo was following me and Scrap but he was happily trotting next to the pitbull without me needing to say anything to him. He seemed to have made a friend.

"Scrap?! Stupid dog," Mr Lowman was shouting.

When I turned down a road I had never been before and saw Mr Lowman stood in the middle of the road with his hands on his head and his back to me. I kind of wanted to sneak up on him and make him jump but thought better of it when I saw the handle of a black gun sticking out the back of his jeans. I froze when I saw it but Romeo barked loudly and ran over to him so I had no choice but to go with him.

"Hey Mr Lowman," I greeted him with a wave when he turned around to look at Romeo, "I think I found your dog!"

His worried expression eased up into one of relief and even smiled at me. He jogged over to me with Romeo at his heels and patted his dog on the head then bent down to fuss Romeo finally.

"Thanks Catherine," he said quietly and I couldn't tell if his voice was hoarse from shouting or if it was just his usual gravelly voice, "where was he?"

"Oh, he ran into town; not really far away. I think maybe he knew Romeo was around," I laughed and handed him back his dog's leash.

I noticed that he wasn't wearing any shoes or socks and just a thin white tank top without his leather coat thing. I tried not to stare at him but literally couldn't help it. He was just _so_ beautiful. He saw I was looking and shuffled kind of uncomfortably but smiled anyway.

"You have weird priorities," I said to him eventually when I managed to drag my eyes away from his tattoos to look at his face, "you forgot to put on shoes but remembered a gun?"

He shrugged kind of awkwardly but then didn't say anything else and we just stood looking at each other. Realising how awkward we both were at apparently the same time we laughed and looked down at our dogs who were playing around at our feet. Romeo was trying to look tough and jumped to playfully bite what was left of Scrap's ear. He couldn't reach though.

"I think Scrap has made a friend Mr Lowman," I smiled up at him and he nodded thoughtfully, "are you busy?"

Mr Lowman looked back up at me with an unreadable expression but then shook his head just as I was about to feel stupid for asking him. I didn't know what I wanted him to join me to do except for maybe taking the dogs for a walk but I just wanted someone to talk too since I had a day off from work, Greta was going back to LA and my family were either at work or school. Mr Lowman was also a really good listener so I think I could talk to him about everything. Plus, if I started crying he gave good hugs so there was always that.

He beckoned me to follow him and I did, trusting him blindly, and walked beside him down the road towards a little house a couple of streets back. There was a motorcycle in the driveway and a chain link fence, with a gate swinging open, surrounding the large dusty, brown lawn. I smiled when I saw his house and the big porch with two rocking chairs on it. There was a little wooden table in between the two chairs where a jug of lemonade and two half full glasses were set on some multi-coloured coasters.

"Is this your house Mr Lowman?" I asked, looking at him happily.

"It's not much," Mr Lowman said, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand and looked kind of shy.

"It's amazing! You live with your wife?"

He laughed slightly but then shook his head. For some reason, I was kind of happy about his answer. Just as I was about to ask who he lived with an elderly lady came to the porch with her hand against her forehead to shield her eyes from the sun. I waved happily over at her and she smiled and waved back. Romeo ran forward through the open gate and towards her. She laughed as Mr Lowman let go of Scrap's leash so he could run after my dog into the garden.

"You found him then, _Mijo_?" The Lady asked, coming down the steps and walking through the playing animals.

"Catherine found him Ma," Mr Lowman said and gestured to me lazily.

I looked at him in surprise. Mr Lowman lived with his elderly mother and had saved a dog from being killed. He was such a nice man and I literally couldn't believe it.

When I went over to meet his mom she smiled even wider and pulled me into a tight hug. She had the same dark eyes as Mr Lowman and really pretty, long grey hair that had been pulled into a neat bun on the top of her head.

"He is a really lovely dog but it seems it doesn't matter how much my son trains him up; he still wants to run away as soon as he can," she said with a laugh, touching my cheek gently and looking into my face kindly, "my goodness, you are a beautiful girl. Like a little _princesa_."

I giggled and blushed, looking away from her to see Mr Lowman with his arms folded over his chest and a warm smile on his face as he looked at his mom. I guess he really must love her.

"Go and get dressed Happy," Mrs Lowman scolded her son, "walking around half dressed in front of a beautiful girl. No manners, my son. Would you like to come and sit with me Catherine? While you wait for my son to dress himself."

I nodded with a smile and settled myself in the rocking chair across from her. Romeo ran excitedly around the yard with Scrap on his tail. Mrs Lowman was really kind and funny. She was kind of like Greta I guess but like, the Spanish version. She had gone inside to get me a glass and poured me some of the lemonade that she had made herself. I told her she was really clever for making it; I could never make something like lemonade. I can't even make toast without burning it. I really was useless.

"You can't make lemonade, _Princesa_? Shall I teach you?" Mrs Lowman said with a warm smile.

"Can you? Oh my gosh, I would love it if you could!" I asked excitedly which made her laugh and nod.

She showed me to the kitchen which was just inside the French doors. The house was really clean and tidy and bright inside. Everything was a nice combination of yellow and royal blue and white with flowers. It was literally like walking into a little villa. I suspected Mrs Lowman had been in charge of decorating. I made sure to tell Mrs Lowman that her house was beautiful, like Greta always told me I should when I entered someone's house for the first time.

((I want to split up the story but FFN will literally not let me do anything that I usually do so here))

 **Happy/3rd Person POV**

When Happy came back into the kitchen to tell Catherine he was ready for whatever she needed him for, he stopped in his tracks. He blinked in surprise to see Catherine and his mother stood side by side cutting up lemons and limes, laughing and talking like they had known each other for years. It was obvious that his mother was already very taken with the younger woman and Happy knew exactly why. She always complained that he never took girls home to meet her, that she was lonely when he was out at work or his aunt wasn't picking up the phone.

"Honestly Mrs Lowman," Catherine laughed as she squeezed the lemon halves into the jug, "I think I would be a really bad wife; I can't cook anything and I'm not really that good at many things. I can clean really well though; I literally hate messy and dirty things. It makes me feel really, like, gross."

"Then," Mama said kindly, "you need to find yourself a man that can cook but cannot clean. You would have balance then, yes?"

"I never thought of that! Oh Mrs Lowman you're so clever."

Mama laughed lightly and patted her on the shoulder. Happy couldn't help smiling as well as this pretty young woman seemed to be infiltrating his life little by little. First she was unafraid of his admittedly threatening looking dog, then she won all of his friends over with her natural charisma and now she was making lemonade with his mother. He breathed out a laugh which made both of the women turn around and look at him with wide eyes.

"There he is! What took you so long _Mijo_? We've been making lemonade without you," Mama said in mock annoyance then turned back to Catherine, "Happy likes to help with the lemonade you know? He pretends he's a big tough guy but he loves helping his Mama in the kitchen. Don't you Happy?"

Catherine was smiling up at him; completely different to a week and half ago when she looked scared and was crying. He preferred her like this, at ease and smiling at him with the afternoon sun hitting her hair and making her look… angelic while she stood in his kitchen as if she was supposed to be there.

"Yeah," Happy said quietly and walked forwards to put his arm around Mama's shoulders and kissed her cheek gently, "I make good lemonade though, right Ma?"

"Oh the best _Mijo_."

Catherine laughed again and turned back to the jug of half-made lemonade. Her shoulders shook as she laughed and pointed out the window where Scrap and Romeo had settled themselves under a tree to nap while their owners made lemonade. Happy like to think that Scrap was his dog but the truth was he was always happiest with Mama.

Happy knew that he couldn't hide how much he cared for Mama; she was his mother after all and she was always the same whether she was alone, with the other guys or with him and she had always taught him to treat women you cared about with respect whether you wanted to show off to your friends or not.

"Ok _,_ " Mama said to Catherine, "you're done. Would you like to taste it now since your boys are asleep outside?"

Catherine nodded enthusiastically and poured herself a glass then one for Mama and another for Happy. She handed him his glass with slight hesitation so he made sure to take it as gently as he could, happily watching Mama and Catherine clink their glasses together.

"Delicious _, Princesa_! Absolutely delicious you have done so well!" Mama praised Catherine; making her beam with pride and stand up straighter, "I cannot believe you have never made lemonade before, it tastes almost professional."

Catherine laughed and thanked her more than was really necessary. Happy sipped from the glass casually and smiled when Catherine looked at him almost to make sure he liked it. It tasted good and just sweet enough for him.

"It's good," Happy told her kindly.

"You think so?"

When he nodded she smiled even wider and blushed lightly while running a nervous hand through her hair. Mama reached her hand up to stroke the golden curls that framed her face and smiled at her as they continued to chat easily.

"Your eyes are so pretty, Catherine," Mama said eventually and Happy expected she had wanted to tell her this as soon as she had met the young woman, "don't you think Happy? Who did you get them from?"

Catherine looked mildly horrified and confused and Happy knew immediately what she was thinking and smiled in anticipation.

((I want to split up the story but FFN will literally not let me do anything that I usually do so here))

 **Catherine POV**

I don't know what kind of science they taught when she was at school but I didn't know what to say to her. I kind of faltered and put my hand on my cheek under my eye.

"I- Mrs Lowman, I've had them since I was born! No one gave them too me!" I exclaimed with a slight nervous laugh.

"No," Mr Lowman said kindly, "who did you get them from. I have the same eyes as Mama. Who do you have the same eyes as?"

I widened my eyes and laughed; pleased that he had explained it too me better then shrugged. I didn't have the same eyes as anyone. Daddy and Mom both had blue eyes and so did Jack. I just had random grey eyes, I guess. I told her and she smiled but didn't seem to be too annoyed at my stupid question.

"What did you need help with, Catherine?" Mr Lowman asked me while he took the empty glasses from mine and his mom's hands to wash them in the sink.

I blinked, confused then realised what he meant and blushed. I had totally forgotten that I had asked him if he was busy and that was the whole reason we had actually came to his house. I was having way too much fun with Mrs Lowman.

"Oh, um, nothing really," I mumbled, "I was just… lonely, I guess. Not that I mean I wouldn't ask you for help or anything! Oh no, have I offended you? I just wanted to talk to someone, you know? Romeo is like, really cute and my best friend and stuff but he doesn't reply when I talk to him. Like, I would talk to you if I wasn't lonely; you're a nice person and everything-"

Mr Lowman turned to look at me while he put the glasses on the draining board. He was smiling at me. He had the same smile as his mom. I guess that meant he got it from her.

"Come on then," he said while drying his hands on his baggy jeans, "let's go."

He kissed him mom's cheek and hugged her before turning to the French doors and whistling; making both dogs look up from where they were sleeping and ran towards him. I turned to Mrs Lowman with a smile and she pulled me in for a tight hug.

"It was lovely meeting you Catherine. Why don't you come back another time and we can teach you to make something else so you won't be a bad wife?" She asked me with a laugh.

I nodded happily. I literally couldn't think of anything better and more fun. Before I could say anything though I heard Romeo barking and looked into the yard to see Mr Lowman playing with both of the dogs with a tattered tennis ball.

"Go on then Catherine, before that impatient son of mine leaves without you. See you soon."

I nodded and waved before walking out onto the porch. My shoes clopped on the wood then made dull thuds on the brown grass as I made my way over to Mr Lowman and the puppies. He attached the lead back onto his dog and we walked back into the town. It was only 1pm but I felt like it was so much later and that I had spent the entire afternoon with Mrs Lowman but it was only really a couple of hours.

As we walked, I talked about anything and everything that came to mind. I talked about Romeo and Daddy and how since the party Jack started wearing his leather jacket everywhere and going against whatever Daddy and Uncle Jerry said. Mr Lowman looked at me as I talked, nodding and making like, agreeing noises. He really was a good listener.

"Oh! Oh, Mr Lowman!" I exclaimed suddenly, hitting his arm, "do you have Mr Chibs' phone number? Or Mrs Chibs even? Do you think they will still help me with my door even though Daddy and Uncle Jerry crashed your party?"

"Yeah. Viv is really worried about you. We all are."

"Really?"

Mr Lowman frowned and nodded at me.

"You want me to call them and see if they can do it now?"

I nodded at him with wide eyes. Now would be the perfect time for them to come and help because Daddy, Uncle Jerry and Mom were still in the building site until 6 and Jack would be at school until 4. He pulled a phone out of his pocket and pressed a few buttons before putting it to his ear and the other person picked up almost straight away.

"Yeah, hi. Can you come and do that thing for Catherine now? You busy?" He asked them then listened for a minute before putting the phone back in his pocket.

"That was kind of rude," I said with a small scowl, "you didn't even say bye. You're supposed to say goodbye and I love you. That's how I always end my phone calls."

"Yeah? That was Chibs."

"So? You can still love him, Mr Lowman," I laughed.

He let out a low chuckle and he told me that they were coming anyway. He didn't specify who "they" were but I was happy enough that my door would have a new lock on it. I practically skipped back to my house and with Mr Lowman beside me holding Scrap on his leash and Romeo trotting beside Scrap. When I started walking up the path to my house I saw some motorcycles outside the driveway and Mr and Mrs Chibs at the front door stood with the man with black curly hair that had been sat at the table at the party and the man that had grabbed me at the motel before we even knew they were going to Charming too. I didn't like him very much; he scared me.

"Oh my god, Cat!" Mrs Chibs exclaimed, walking over to me and hugging me, "are you alright? What happened?"

"Huh? Oh, nothing. Me and Jack were grounded for, like, two weeks and put under house arrest. Nothing bad though, promise."

"Good, good. I'm glad. Are you coming Happy?" she called to Mr Lowman.

When I looked back I saw that he had stopped at the gate; looking up at my house with wide eyes. It was bigger than his but it wasn't nearly as cute and homey. He looked at me again but he wasn't smiling this time. He looked kind of angry and maybe sad. I don't know but I told him to come in anyway, if he wanted to help.

Mrs Chibs kept trying to get the men under control when they started to wander around the house and looking at different things. I just laughed and showed them up to my bedroom where they were even more excitable.

"I'll stay with Scrap," Mr Lowman said harshly.

"What do you mean Mr Lowman?" I asked, turning on the stairs to look at him.

He wasn't looking at me but Scrap was. I patted my legs and he ran forwards; pulling the leash out of Mr Lowman's hand to run up to me. I laughed and ruffled the dog's ears while the other people went up to my bedroom to start working although I wasn't sure why it would take Mr Chibs _and_ the other men but maybe it was harder than I thought it was going to be. I have no idea about how to change locks. Mr Lowman looked angry and I felt bad for making him angry but I didn't know what to do.

"Come on Mr Lowman," I said and held my hand out to him, "all your friends are here and Scrap is coming too. Please? I want you to see my room."

He was still scowling and looking away from me but started walking up the plush carpeted stairs. When he was a step down from me I leant down and took his hand in mine slowly but stopped when he moved away from me. I frowned at him, confused.

"Mr Lowman?" I asked.

I didn't mean to sound as sad as I did but I couldn't help it; we had been having such a nice day and now for literally no reason that I could think of he was angry with me. I think maybe I was just being dumb and he was getting mad. After I spoke though he looked up at me and he didn't look mad. I think he was blushing too but it was kind of hard to tell because he looked away from me really quickly. I smiled at him. He was literally so cute when he was nervous. Scrap snuffled at my hand distracting me from looking at his owner.

"Oh," I cooed at the puppy, "look at you. My handsome boy, yes you are. Yes you're my handsome boy aren't you? Yes you are and your daddy is so silly isn't he? Silly daddy, yes such a silly daddy."

I laughed and sat on the step beside Scrap and in front of Mr Lowman to fuss the dog and kiss his big head while he panted and pawed at me; leaving dusty paw prints on my blue flowery dress and on my arms. Romeo ran up and down the stairs to try to get my attention so I called him and fussed over both dogs with another happy laugh.

"Oh look at my handsome boys!" I laughed and cuddled Romeo and Scrap.

"Come on Sweetheart," I heard Mr Chibs shout, "you need to tell me where you want the lock to be."

I stood up and dusted my dress off before calling both dogs with me and going to my room. I saw the men in my room and immediately felt uncomfortable. I had never had an outside person in my room before. They weren't doing anything except standing by the door and on the balcony, pointing out how good the view was and the fact that we had a pool. Mrs Chibs was sat at the piano in my room and Mr Chibs was stood the by the door with his tool box.

"You play piano?" Mrs Chibs asked excitedly and I nodded before picking up Romeo and walking over to her.

"Yeah," I replied just as excited as she was, "I was like, really good or whatever. I actually sang to the piano for my last pageant. I won Miss California when I was 21."

"You seriously won that? That's amazing!"

I nodded excitedly and went to show her but there was a big warm hand on my shoulder that stopped me from walking over to her. I turned to see Mr Chibs smiling kindly down at me. I had totally forgotten that they weren't here to be my friends. Not even Mr Lowman. I think he was just being nice to me because he was a nice guy. I kind of felt sad when I realised that.

I looked at the other people, and dogs, in my room who were all looking at me. Mr Lowman was as unreadable as ever but when I looked at him he nodded as a like, hello, I guess. I laughed when I saw that he was holding Romeo with Scrap sat next to him. The scary man and the black haired man were still stood on the balcony but when I saw that they were smoking I felt angry and not sad anymore.

"Hey," I snapped at them, storming over and taking the cigarettes out of their hands, "don't smoke in my room!"

"We're not in your room," the scary man shrugged and looked at me kind of angry, "we're outside."

"You are on really thin ice hairy man! I already don't like you. I literally don't even know why I let you in my house and make my nice floor all muddy. Do you even _know_ how long it took me to wax and mop this floor?"

His amused face dropped when I stamped my foot and poked him in the belly. I didn't care who he thought he was, you don't just come into some random girls room and start smoking and he should respect that. I tossed my hair back over my shoulder and folded my arms, tapping my foot and waiting for his answer.

"Well?" I demanded to know, "do you know how long it took me?"

"I thought it was a rhetorical question," the man laughed.

"Don't try and confuse me with long words!"

He laughed again and I just didn't get what was so funny. I scowled at him and the other man that was looking at me so weirdly. Like, his eyebrows were up and his mouth was open. I scoffed and turned back to storm back into my room to Mr Chibs who was talking to his not-wife and laughing as he measured up the door. Mr Lowman was stood glaring at the men on my balcony while holding my gorgeous Pomeranian and it looked really funny.

((I want to split up the story but FFN will literally not let me do anything that I usually do so here))

"So what you want to do-" Mr Chibs instructed, "is line up the bolt with where you want it to go, make sure it's straight, and use your little pencil to mark out the holes for the screws. Cat, where did you put the pencil?"

"Oh, Romeo wanted it so ask him," I shrugged, "can I move my arms yet? They really ache."

Mr Chibs laughed and shook his head which made me groan and rest my head against the wooden door and kept my hands on the little metal lock thing on the bottom of my door. Mr Chibs had fixed one higher up on my door and asked if I wanted to learn how to do it myself. I had said yeah because he made it look really easy but he had better arms than me because he could hold it on the door and use the drill thing to put it on and not even get tired.

Mr Lowman had told the scary man, Bobby, to go and get some stuff to clean up the mud and ash he had tracked over my nice floor. I felt better that, while I was doing DIY, Mr Lowman was making sure that he was getting all the dirt off and making it shiny again. I think he liked things to be clean too.

"Alright, here," Mrs Chibs said while handing the pencil back to me.

I took it and drew holes onto the wood where the screws were going to go on then looked at Mr Chibs, waiting for my next instruction.

"You can put your arms down now," he laughed, "and count out seven of these ones. That's why you put the pencil marks there you see? So you know where the lock is going to go when you take it away."

"Oh Mr Chibs!" I said to him with wide eyes, "you're so clever! I would literally never have thought of that!"

"Thanks lass. Now put your lock back on there and line up the holes, I'll pass the screws and start them off then you carry on, yeah?"

I nodded happily; I was literally so happy that Mr Chibs offered to help me, even if It was just because he felt sorry for me.

After about half an hour, I had fixed the lock on the door. I leant over and hugged Mr Chibs tightly, thanking him for helping me and teaching me how to put locks on doors. I had actually had so much fun. Mr and Mrs Chibs had laughed when I hugged him and he carefully hugged me back, patting my hair. I pulled away with a huge grin on my face.

"Hey Mr Lowman," I called over to where he was sat pressing random keys on my piano, "I did it!"

"Well done Catherine," Mr Lowman said nicely and looked over his shoulder with a smile, "proud of you."

((I want to split up the story but FFN will literally not let me do anything that I usually do so here))

 **Happy/3rd Person POV**

Happy had wondered, mostly subconsciously, what her bedroom would look like. He thought it would probably be covered in pink and shiny shit but was pleasantly surprised when he saw that it was a lot more elegant than that. Everything was either gold or white and there was a white piano tucked in the corner next to the doors leading to the balcony. Happy wanted to hear her play it and he wanted to hear her sing.

He hated how cute she was when she was knelt on the floor beside Chibs and how her hair looked like sunshine flowing down her back. He hated how she was making him feel because he had never felt that way before, not for a girl or anyone. Catherine was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. He told her he was proud of her and that was because _he was_ proud of her; she had done a lot of new things that day. She had made lemonade with is mother and now had turned her hand to DIY.

After a while she stood up and dusted her knees off. There were red marks on her skin and they made him wince even though he knew she wasn't in pain. The bruises on her thigh had faded, from what he could see, but he knew he couldn't just ask her to show him her leg.

"You wanna hear a song?" She asked him, coming over to the piano and sitting close beside him on the small bench, "as like, a thank you? I don't have any money to pay you guys right now so this could just be an IOU."

"You don't need to pay us Sweetheart," Viv said kindly, "we wanted to help you."

Happy nodded when she looked at him then watched as Tig and Bobby walked through the French doors and back into her bedroom to listen as she started to play the piano. Happy didn't know what she was playing but it was pretty and she looked relaxed and happy with a small smile on her face as she played. When the song was finished his friends all clapped for her and made her laugh. She stood up and curtsied with another laugh.

"That was brilliant!" Viv gushed to her, "can you play another one?"

"Really?"

"Yes! We all want to hear you sing!"

Catherine sat back down and Happy didn't move away from her when her leg brushed against his and her arm would move against him as her hands moved gracefully across the keys. Then she started singing and as soon as she did Happy knew he had fallen in love with her.

 **I'm Sorry Part 2 -** hahahahaha oh I'm sorry! There was nothing in this chapter except for a load of cute emotional shit and I hope you like it!

Next chapter we will see way more action and we will finally get to see just how badly SAMCRO fucked up her dad's building plans.

I changed my name on Tumblr to **thirstygirlclub** so follow me on there to see my stupid face and other things I write which are mostly one shot imagines and stuff. All SOA based though, obviously.

Anyway, see you soon,

Lots of love, Doe

xxxxxxxx


	9. Chapter 8 - Dolly

Chapter 8 – Dolly

My feet were in so much pain. Daddy and Uncle Jerry had told me I needed to work extra hours at The Velvet Lounge so I was there from the morning until the evening. Theo always made sure that I was given breaks and food if I was hungry so it could have been worse. I worked through breakfast and into the evening towards dinner time; I worked 12 hours a day for five out of seven and I was super tired by the end of the week.

Kathy was really helpful though and she kept me feeling positive when I was getting sad and told me that I could stay late and watch the girls dance whenever I wanted. I was surprised to find out that The Velvet Lounge was a kind of strip club like I originally thought it was. Well, kind of a strip club. Like, it was both a strip club and a theatre. So, the girls would all dance on the stage and then they would get requests for private dances when they were done. The guys that wanted the dances would hand over so much money to get the girls to dance for them and they would look at them like they loved them. I would get changed after work and sit behind the stage with a glass of sparkling water with lemon and chat to the girls while they were getting ready and even help them with their hair or makeup if they needed it.

"Cat," Bambi asked me, "can you please come and help me? I can't get the clip on my stocking. Do you mind?"

"No, no of course!" I exclaimed happily and hopped off my stool and trotting towards her, "here you go!"

"Thanks Babe," she sighed in relief and kissed my cheek with a waft of strawberry scented lip gloss before going out onto the stage.

I smiled and waved after her. She was a really beautiful girl and I felt so small and plain next to her and all the other dancers. They were so pretty and all the men that came into the club went crazy for them and I really wanted that, you know? I wanted people to think I was pretty too.

I loved watching them dance and sing and see the face of the men light up when they chose to dance for them. I really liked watching all the pretty clothing sparkle and shine in the lights and the girls smiling.

"Why don't you ask Madame if you can dance?" Kathy asked me, leaning against the back of the set, "I can see you want too."

"No!" I gasped, "No way! Could you imagine what Daddy would say if he found out I was a dancer?"

"So don't tell him! Come on Cat, you've got to do something you like. You want to wait on tables for 12 hours a day or do you want to earn a week's wages in 2 days with the tips they get?"

I sighed and looked back out to the stage. She had a point. I did want to dance, because that's what I used to do but I wasn't sure if I would be any good at it now. Besides, I don't think I would even be confident enough to dance for the men or take my clothes off in front of them.

"No. No I don't think I could Kathy. It's not the kind of dance I used to do anyway."

"You want me to talk to Madame for you? I don't mind if you want me too."

"Literally, no!"

Kathy laughed and ruffled her short brown hair out of its teeny tiny ponytail so that it was all messy and mussed up as she liked it. We both had to have our hair tidy and neat which wasn't a problem for me because I liked my hair to be all tidy but Kathy liked to have it a lot messier than me.

I picked up my handbag, waved goodbye to Kathy and started my long walk home. My feet were aching and tired, my legs felt like jelly and my back was literally killing me. I hated not having a car. It was one of the worst things ever; after a long like, 12 hour work day I had to walk literal miles home. I wanted a car but I couldn't even afford one with all the money I was getting because Daddy and Uncle Jerry were taking loads of it to help with their building thing. It was horrible.

On my walk home I thought about Daddy and Uncle Jerry spending all their time either at the building site or in the office at home. They were always shouting at each other and then at me and Jack if we went in to the office or whatever room they were in. Jack spent all his time out with his jock friends and Mom was always out too. I don't even know what she was doing all the time but she would come home late at night acting funny. Like, if I saw her coming in she would be really shifty and hurry away upstairs. Since moving to Charming I think my family has fallen apart and it made me really sad.

When I came back home I was called into the office which made me groan and have a mini tantrum in the entryway of the house. All I wanted to do was go to sleep and lie down so my feet would stop hurting.

"Now Catherine!" I heard Uncle Jerry shouting when I took too long.

I walked slowly into the room to see Daddy and Uncle Jerry sat around casually. I folded my arms across and looked at them silently. I was literally so tired and fed up of them right now. They were taking all my money and made me work really hard and all I literally wanted to do was go to bed.

"There's something we need to tell you," Daddy said carefully.

"What is it Daddy? Can it wait until the morning? I'm so tired."

Daddy sighed and stood up, coming over to me and putting his hands on my shoulders. He was looking at me with a sad smile and then stroked my hair. I was getting suspicious now. He didn't do this to me anymore, not since moving and Uncle Jerry moving in.

"Sit down, Catherine," Uncle Jerry said kind of angrily, "you need to hear this."

Daddy sat me down in the squashy armchair and stood with his hand still on my shoulder. I felt my stomach drop when I realised that this was going to be a serious conversation. There were already worried tears in my eyes.

"We want you to listen to this and be a big girl about it, ok?" Daddy said in the same careful voice, "remember that you're a grown up with a job now."

"Daddy?" I asked shakily.

"We have had to let Greta go."

I sat back and folded my arms. I knew they had let her go back to see her family; I waved goodbye to her at the bus stop. With a laugh and a nod I told them that and they looked at each other with the same expression and I knew I had gotten something wrong. I looked back up at Daddy with wide eyes.

"No, Catherine," Uncle Jerry said with a smug smile, "we have fired her. She is never coming back."

My head whipped around to look at him with the worried tears now streaming down my face and making mascara run into my eyes but I just blinked the pain of them away. I thought he was joking, because he was smiling but then I saw how mean he was really looking and I knew he wasn't. I tried to ask them why they fired her but I couldn't. I had never been heartbroken before so I didn't really know what to compare it too but it was like they had literally just ripped my heart out of my chest. It was worse than when Daddy told me we were moving and so much worse than when Uncle Jerry said he was going to kill Romeo because I knew they wouldn't really do it. I felt sick and dizzy.

"Daddy," I sobbed and shook my head, "please Daddy, no."

"I'm sorry Catherine she was costing us a lot of money that we just can't afford anymore."

"Don't be so _stupid_ Catherine!" Jerry said with a laugh when I continued to cry and beg Daddy to bring her back, "You are an adult now and you don't need a nanny."

I stood up and turned to leave but Jerry grabbed my arm tightly. I tried to push him off of me because it was really painful and I just wanted to leave. I wanted to go away from them but he refused to let go. I tried really hard to argue with them, screaming and crying and stamping my feet until I felt the sting of being hit. Jerry had hit me. Uncle Jerry had hit me on the face. I was so shocked I stopped crying and went silent.

I had never been hit before either. I put my hand to the pain on my cheek and looked at him in anger. Daddy stepped in front of me and grabbed Jerry by the front of his suit and pushed him back against the wall in front of us. Daddy shouted angrily at Jerry pushing him against the wall. I was glad that Daddy actually seemed to still care about me enough to be angry.

"What the fuck?!" Daddy shouted then pushed him away, shouting more stuff that I didn't really understand what he was talking about, "you think I'm gonna let you touch her like that? You think I'm gonna let her be with you if I know you're gonna hurt her?!"

I didn't know what that meant. Be with him? Like move in with him? No way. No way in _heck_ was I going to live with Uncle Jerry. Especially if he was going to do that. I would literally rather live on my own on the streets.

I ran out of the office and thundered upstairs to find Romeo sat waiting for me on my bed with his head tilted to the side, looking at me confused. I quickly changed out of my uniform into some shorts and a thin tank top with some sneakers on my feet before picking up my pom and leaving. I could still hear Daddy shouting at Uncle Jerry in the office but this time Uncle Jerry was shouting.

I didn't start crying again until I had walked a few streets away from the house. My mind was all over the place and I couldn't focus on one thought, more than usual. Romeo whined gently in my arms and I realised I was probably holding him too tightly. It was also really cold and I think it was going to rain. This was literally one of the worst days of my life.

My painful feet had carried me through the dark streets. I was crying and cold and had no idea where I was going; I had no one. I had no friends or family here and I just wanted to go home, back to LA where it never rained and where all of my friends lived and where I could spend all day on the beach talking to cute boys and making friends. I don't think Daddy or Mom or Jack had noticed I had left. They didn't care about me and I felt so lonely; no one liked me, not really. I think they were just kind of being nice to me because I was dumb.

The first drop of rain hit my shoulder and I whined, stamping my feet in annoyance but still refused to go back to the house. I hated the rain and the cold and I was scared. I was scared because it was late and dark and I was alone; I didn't want to go home and I didn't want to stay outside. I found myself walking through the rain and trying to shield Romeo from the cold and rain with my arms. He was shivering and whining too; neither of us liked storms and it had started to thunder and lightning.

I saw a bus stop ahead of me. It was the only one in town under a shelter and I made a bee line for it. I ran through the rain and sat cuddling Romeo tightly against me while we both shivered and cried. I stared out into the night, sniffling and sobbing quietly. I felt really numb; my legs and arms were so cold I couldn't even feel them anymore and where Uncle Jerry had hurt me wasn't stinging anymore. I didn't even feel cold. Swallowing harshly, I reached into my pocket only to find my cell phone gone. I can't believe I could be this dumb. I forgot to pick it up when I left so now I had no way to call Daddy to come and get me. I shouted and sobbed then started having another tantrum in the bus stop with the rain and thunder nearly drowning out my noises of frustration.

Why am I so stupid? Uncle Jerry was right. I am so dumb and stuff. I hate it.

Romeo huddled against my chest as I started crying again.

"Oh Romeo," I whimpered, "what am I gonna do?"

"Catherine?!"

For a minute, only a short minute, I thought Romeo had started talking to me but if he did talk he probably wouldn't have a German accent. I laughed at myself because I had already been told that Mr Chibs was Scottish not German.

Mr Chibs.

I looked up and saw him stood a few metres away wearing a hoodie underneath his leather vest thing. I stood up from the bench, on my numb, cold legs, and ran to him. I hugged him and he patted my hair gently.

"What are you doing out here?" He asked me, sounding like how Daddy used to when he was worried about me, "do you know what time it is? It's freezing."

"Mr Chibs," I sobbed, "I'm so cold!"

He rubbed my upper arms to try and warm me up. There were more footsteps coming over and when I looked up I saw Jax and a really tall man with a beard and a hat on. He looked friendly though, just a bit scary. I decided I wouldn't judge him because I did that with Mr Lowman and he was a good person.

"What's going on?" Jax asked me, "Cat? You're _blue_."

I looked at him, turning my head into the light and Jax's expression went angry. He put his hand on my chin and turned my face so he could see the right side of my face; where Jerry hurt me. I had kind of forgotten about that.

"Your dog is cold," The Beard Man said to me gently and took off his hat, "put him in this."

I looked down at the woollen beanie hat he was handing to me but I don't think I could let go of Romeo; my arms were frozen and I was so nervous. Mr Beard slid Romeo out of my grip and placed him inside of his hat then tucked him into his jacket. Romeo looked so small when the big man was holding him.

"Please be careful with him," I whispered, "he's very special."

"He's just gonna get him in the warm," Mr Chibs said, "come on. You wanna go home?"

I thought for a minute then shook my head quickly and wrapped my arms back around myself, looking away from them. Mr Chibs and Jax talked with Mr Beard quietly then I felt Jax's arms going around my shoulders and he led me down the road with the tall man on my other side so I could see Romeo who was happily tucked away in the man's hat and jacket. He looked so comfy, I was kind of jealous.

"You can tell you're from LA," Mr Beard said to me with a chuckle, "you're not really dressed for the weather."

"I literally don't own a coat," I said with my teeth chattering, "it's like, never cold enough for a coat but I should have put a cardigan on, huh?"

"Nah don't worry, this is just a freak storm. Never rains like this usually."

I nodded, unsure of what to say to him now. He seemed nice though. I couldn't help wondering what they were all doing out here at like, 2 in the morning in the rain. I guess they must have been out having fun or something but they didn't seem drunk. Jax pointed to a van that had been parked down the road and in an alley way which was kind of a funny place to park. I mean, the roads were literally empty so they could have parked somewhere else and it would have been a bit easier to find. The doors opened and I saw Mr Lowman jump out. I felt myself get a bit warmer when I noticed he wasn't wearing a jacket or… shirt. He was just stood in the alley way, in the rain, wearing just dirty jeans and muddy sneakers. His mom wouldn't be very happy with him and I was worried he would get a cold.

"Where… what's going on?" I asked Jax, "why have you parked here? Where are we going if you're not taking me home? Wait, you're not taking me home, right?"

"No, we're going to the clubhouse. You know where you came for the party? It's warm and there's hot chocolate," Jax winked at me

"Oh. That sounds good. Hi Mr Lowman are you coming for hot cocoa too?"

Mr Lowman looked between the other men then nodded at me. He looked into Mr Beard's jacket and scratched Romeo's head gently. Jax pointed to the passenger door, telling me to get in and he would drive. I did volunteer to drive but they told it was alright because I probably couldn't reach the peddles. It was a good point.

"Where's Romeo? Is he still there? Is he alive?"

"Got him. He's snoring away in here." Mr Beard laughed from the back of the van.

"Ok. Please look after him."

"Relax Cat, Ope's got kids. He can look after your baby," Mr Chibs said kindly.

"Ope is a weird name too. Is it like, because you look like a monkey? Because that kind of makes sense." I laughed, "How many kids have you got? I love children; they're so cute."

"I've got two, boy and a girl."

I turned back around to look at him through the netting thing and smiled. They all looked a bit nervous. Mr Lowman was shaking his legs and Mr Chibs wasn't looking at me but Mr Ope was grinning back at me. I decided that his beard made him look friendly, like Santa, instead of scary.

"Monkey?" Jax asked me with a laugh as he drove towards the garage.

"Yeah," I nodded, warming my hands on the heater, "like an Ope is a different name for a monkey right? Not all monkeys are opes but all opes are monkeys."

"Ape," Mr Chibs laughed, "you mean apes."

"Oh," I laughed with the men and it was nice.

My mood was kind of getting better with them talking to me and with the heaters warming me up like a turkey. You know on Thanksgiving when people left them outside before they get cooked. I hope they weren't going to cook and eat me. I'd taste like body lotion and hairspray. That would taste gross.

((I want to split up the story but FFN will literally not let me do anything that I usually do so here))

 **Happy/3** **rd** **Person POV**

( _Earlier_ )

"You need to do damage, you understand?" Clay told Jax and Opie, "take Chibs and Hap."

"What about the guys Jez hired to guard the place?" Chibs asked, already knowing the answer.

Clay shrugged with a smirk and Jax smiled. They knew exactly what that meant and Happy couldn't stop the smile creeping onto his face; the night was going to get bloody and he couldn't wait. It had been a long time since there had been anything more than a cold war between the two sides. The Mr Duke-Dillinger and Jerry had become a thorn in their side since construction had begun in the town. Clay had assigned at least two of the guys each day to keep an eye on the progress.

Happy had almost given away that the work was being watched when he saw Jerry strutting along the building site wearing an ugly suit and stupid hard hat. Juice had to force him back into the van, with great difficulty, and argued with him until he calmed down. There wasn't anything they could do to get him to open up to why seeing the man had made him so angry; none of them liked him but there would be a time and a place to get back at him.

"Why can't I get in on this?" Tig whined, "I love blowing shit up."

"Because you've got a better job. You're coming with me and Juice to _talk_ to Jerry and Mr Duke-Dillinger."

"What about the kids?" Jax asked, voicing Happy's concerns, "you can't let them see you beating up their dad."

Clay scoffed and looked at him with a raised eyebrow; it was no secret that the guys had a soft spot for the Duke-Dillinger children, Catherine in particular. He didn't understand but he had felt sorry for her in the first meeting with them. At the same time though, he didn't care whether they saw them getting their dad as long as they got the message across.

The Duke-Dillinger's weren't welcome in Charming anymore and neither was their building site.

"Does anyone actually know his name?" Juice asked with a laugh and they all looked around and shrugged.

((I want to split up the story but FFN will literally not let me do anything that I usually do so here))

Happy was practically skipping around the building site smashing things and taking out all the copper wiring while Jax and Opie wired up the explosives so that the new buildings would be demolished in quick succession of each other. It was going to be like their own little (big) firework show. Chibs stood back with his eyes peeled for any police or hired thugs.

"Quickly boys!" Chibs ordered.

"We're goin' quick!" Jax shouted back, "we've got like 20 houses to wire up here!"

Hearing the shouting, some of the goons came out of where they had been sat twiddling their thumbs to see Happy cheerfully smashing windows and kicking out the doors. They pulled out their guns to shoot him but Happy was faster. With some well-aimed and well timed shots they were on the floor. Happy was un-phased by the blood that now covered his white shirt, up his arms and on his face. Chibs cursed as the gunshots now drew the attention of the rest of the guards and a short gunfight broke out.

With one quick detonation, the new houses fell to the ground and whatever guards were left after the gunfight got flattened by the falling rubble and splintering wood. They laughed and whooped as the buildings crumpled to the ground and rain started to fall onto them. Chibs hurried them all back into the van so they could get back to the club house and away from the crime scene.

Chattering excitedly, Jax jumped into the driver's seat while the other men hopped in the back. They shook the dust and rain out of their hair with one final look back into the now destroyed building site.

The streets of Charming were deserted; Californian's hated the rain. Jax swerved all around the empty streets, skidding and sliding all over the wet tarmac on the way home but a figure at the bus stop caught his eye. He slowed down as he saw the long blonde hair and the small brown dog in the persons arms.

"Whoa!" Chibs exclaimed as Jax swerved into an alley way; hiding the van if anyone was looking, "what're you doing? We need to get back."

"Cat," Jax told him, "is at the bus stop. The buses aren't running this late. She might need a ride somewhere."

"She can't see us like this. She's gonna ask questions," Happy said, gesturing to his blood splattered shirt and skin.

"I think we both know she's not gonna ask any questions. Just stay here, me and Chibs will go talk to her."

Happy felt conflicted; he wanted to check on Cat but he didn't want her to see him covered in dirt and blood. He nodded once. The only way he could calm himself was to watch what was happening from far away. He couldn't hear anything that was happening but he could see her looking tiny beside Chibs and Jax. She was wearing really fucking short shorts and a thin white shirt with limp wet hair and he already knew she was looking at them with cartoon wide eyes. Jax turned and beckoned Happy and Opie to go over to them but Happy stepped back into the gloomy alley way shaking his head. He couldn't let her see him like that. Opie jogged over and completely dwarfed her.

In the van, Happy took off his kutte and pulled the shirt over his head, using it to wipe down his face and arms. He didn't have to worry about Catherine asking questions about why he was undressed when the rest of them were wearing jackets and jumpers because she probably wouldn't even notice. Besides, _she_ had called _him_ beautiful the first time she had seen him half dressed, after his fight in the ring.

As soon as he re-opened the van doors he felt himself getting angry. She had been crying, that much was obvious, but it wasn't the dainty and pretty crying he had seen her do before. This was puffy eyes, mascara tears, flushed cheeks and wobbly lip crying. Someone had hurt her again. Opie had the dog in his jacket to warm it up.

"Hi Mr Lowman," Catherine greeted him shakily, "are you coming for hot cocoa too?"

He couldn't say no to her.

((I want to split up the story but FFN will literally not let me do anything that I usually do so here))

Opie had never spoken to Catherine before but Happy could tell that he was smitten by her. Not as if he was in love with her but, like the rest of the guys, he had been drawn in by how sweet she was and her silly questions. She had him laughing deeply on the way back to the clubhouse and asked him loads of questions about his kids. When she was talking though, it was fast and slightly too high-pitched to be a casual conversation and Happy assumed she was hiding something.

Jax was right though. Catherine hadn't asked a single question about why they were out so late and covered in dust. She also hadn't looked directly at Happy.

"Say something to her," Chibs whispered to Happy and tapped his arm, "don't just sit there."

Happy glared at him then sat back against the wall of the van with his arms folded as Jax pulled into the garage. He was going to talk to her but not when she was with everyone else. He wanted to talk to her alone when he felt like she would be more open with him.

"You getting out Mr Lowman?" Catherine asked from the front; dragging Happy out of his thoughts to look at her, "we're here now and Jax has promised me some hot cocoa."

He nodded, making sure she got out first before she could see that he was sat on his bloody t-shirt then tucked it under the bench so that one of the prospects could get it the day after. Making sure to stay by Catherine, he walked into the clubhouse while Chibs went into the office to grab the kettle for hot chocolate. There was still some blood smeared on his arms where it had dried and stuck but it blended in seemingly well with his tattoos.

"Make sure you get her something to wear when you grab a shirt, yeah?" Jax asked Happy who nodded, "she's gonna get the flu."

In the light, the small cuts on her temple and cheek bone were visible; he hadn't seen them earlier but her eyes had started to get less puffy and her skin wasn't red and blotchy anymore. She was starting to look more like herself although all she was concentrating on was making sure her dog was alright. She didn't seem concerned about herself in the slightest. He couldn't help wondering if maybe she had got in the middle of Clay and her dad. She wouldn't have come with them though, surely, if she saw Clay, Tig and Juice enter the house. Right?

Happy pulled a big, grey SAMCRO shirt from the pile in the back for her, thinking it would be funny to see her in something that would be too big even for Opie, and a plain white one for him then replacing the kutte over his shoulders. She liked grey; she wore it a lot, Happy thought to himself.

"Here," he said to her, talking for the first time in a while.

"Oh, do you have it in pink? I mean, I love grey but pink is my favourite."

When Happy didn't reply, only smiled and raised his eyebrow at her, she laughed lightly and took it off of him. As soon as she put it on though, he started chuckling; it was just as funny as he had imagined.

"Oh look at you!" Chibs said, bringing in a tray of cups, "you look adorable! Like a little dolly!"

"Mr Lowman says you don't have them in pink. I think you should start making them in pink."

"Pink's not really our colour."

Catherine smiled and laughed. It was almost as if they hadn't found her shivering and sobbing in a bus stop; almost like she had forgotten herself.

((I want to split up the story but FFN will literally not let me do anything that I usually do so here))

 **Catherine POV**

My new t-shirt was so comfy and cosy and the bar was really warm and comforting. All it did was make me realise how tired I was. I had worked the longest shift ever then walked through the town for like, a bajillion hours and now I felt like sleeping on this bench thing. I didn't though, obviously. I had literally no idea how long it had been since it had been cleaned and what had been spilt on it.

"Take this Sweetheart," Mr Chibs told me and passed me a cup that smelled delicious, "you'll warm up soon."

"Thank you Mr Chibs. You're really nice. Do you have kids too? You're, like, _such_ a dad, you know?"

"Yup. I got a little girl. She's not so little anymore though I guess. She would be about 18 now."

"You don't see her?"

Mr Chibs shook his head sadly and I wanted to cuddle him but there was a table in the way. I felt bad for making him sad so I just patted his hand gently, apologising to him for bringing it up. Mr Lowman came to sit beside me, stretching his arm out on the back of the seats which was nice because I could feel the warmth coming from him. It just made me want to go to sleep even more though.

Yawning, I sipped my hot cocoa. It was as delicious as it smelt and I drank it down quickly.

"Oh Mr Lowman," I sighed with another yawn, "I'm so sleepy."

"Why don't you wanna go home?" Mr Lowman asked me quietly.

"Because I'm scared. I don't think I like Uncle Jerry anymore."

My eyes were closing and I was fighting to stay awake now that I was sat in the warm and full of hot cocoa.

"Did he hurt you again?" He asked and I nodded, pointing to my face and my arm, "do they know where you are?"

"I don't have my phone but I don't think they care about where I am. You know? They just- they've-"

I couldn't finish my sentence because I thought about Greta and how much I needed her right now. I need her to hug me and stroke my hair and make me feel like someone loved me. I didn't want to cry again because my face had only just stopped hurting but I couldn't stop myself. I hid my face in my hands to try and stop the tear but it didn't work.

"It's ok," Mr Lowman said gently and stroked my hair with the hand that was around the back of the seats, "don't worry."

I tried to talk but I couldn't say anything properly. I was just making noises. Romeo made his way onto my lap, whining and pawing at my hands until I picked him up and buried my face in his fur. He licked my cheek lovingly. When I looked at him, his fur was everywhere and knotted from where he had been sat in Ope's jacket.

"Catherine?" Mr Lowman asked, "what happened?"

I looked up at him, not wanting anyone else to see my ugly crying face. He was frowning at me but still had his hand on my damp hair. I think he was concerned about me.

"Oh Mr Lowman," I sobbed, "They have fired Greta! She went back to LA to see her family and she's not coming back because- because we can't afford to pay her because all of our money is going into this stupid building thing! I thought- I thought maybe I could pay her with my money but they've taken all of it and I can't- I can't afford anything anymore. Mr Lowman, I miss her and I need her. I really need her here with me."

I just talked quickly without breathing, in between crying and yawning. I was a mess and Mr Lowman didn't speak for ages. I felt so stupid.

"You think maybe… she should spend time with her family now? I mean, you are an adult now. You don't need a nanny," Jax asked quietly.

I turned to him and shook my head.

"You don't understand Jax. If I don't have Greta, I don't have anyone."

They were all looking at me sympathetically. Mr Chibs and Mr Lowman looked at each other and then Mr Lowman sighed then hugged me awkwardly. I didn't care that he was awkward; I just hugged him back around Romeo and buried my face in his t-shirt.

"I just wanna go home," I cried, voice muffled in his shirt, "I just wanna go back to LA where it never rains and my friends are and where Greta is and where I don't have to get a stupid job. I hate it here. I just wanna go home."

"Catherine…" Mr Lowman said quietly.

"I work like, really hard. I work 13 hours a day and my feet hurt and I'm tired all the time then I don't even get to keep the money because Daddy and Uncle Jerry are running out because they're paying Mr Morrow all of it and the building men and the men that are making sure nothing happens to it. Then- then Uncle Jerry grabbed me and hit me and Daddy had a fight with him and it really scared me and- and- and all I want is some new shoes and to sit on the beach with my friends! I don't wanna move in with Uncle Jerry!"

((I want to split up the story but FFN will literally not let me do anything that I usually do so here))

 **Happy/3** **rd** **Person POV**

Happy rarely felt guilt but when she was crying it hit him like a semi-truck. They were the reason that she was crying and probably, in part, the reason Jerry had hurt her. He looked over her head at Chibs and Jax and they looked just as guilty as he felt. But, at the same time, Happy was angry. He thought up a variety of different things he could do to Jerry for hurting her like he had. He wanted to go immediately and hurt him but took comfort in the fact that he was being beaten up by Tig.

"It's alright Cat," Jax said unconvincingly, "I'm sure they're gonna be done soon."

"They're not," Catherine cried, nestling closer to Happy, "it's gonna be years."

The guys all looked at each other awkwardly as she cried quietly into Happy's chest, gripping onto his shirt and pulling herself closer. Happy tried not to enjoy it because she was distraught but he couldn't help it. She was so tiny and delicate, like a dolly as Chibs had said, and she was so pretty even though she was crying and her hair was ragged and frizzy.

"Get her to bed," Jax said kindly to Happy, "put her in one of the dorms. I'll speak to Clay in the morning. I don't want her going back to that house tonight."

"No, no I need to go home. I'm fine." Catherine sighed but made no moved to leave.

"Use mine," Opie volunteered, "it's the cleanest."

Happy nodded and started to shuffle out of the booth with his hands holding her shoulders.

"Come on Catherine," Happy murmured to her, "come with me."

She let him take her to the dorms and dutifully followed him. She didn't question anything. She didn't protest even though she was clearly uncomfortable. It was just like when she had followed him to his house; just trusted him blindly like she trusted him.

"Here."

Happy opened and held the door to Opie's dorm. Shyly, she looked at him then walked slowly into the room. It was nothing like her room at home but it was comfy and warm.

"Mr Lowman?" She asked quietly, "can you… I can trust you, right?"

"Yeah."

"You wouldn't hurt me, right?"

"Never."

Catherine nodded then went over to the bed and pressed down on the mattress to test it. Seemingly happy, she hesitantly sat on it to take her sneakers off then lay down with Romeo curling up on the other pillow. Happy didn't want to leave and she didn't ask him to either.

Bravely, Happy went to sit beside her on the bed as she watched him with tired and unfocused eyes. He patted her hair then ran his hands through it like he had seen Jax do for Tara and Chibs do for Viv. It's just something men do for women. Catherine sighed and squeezed her eyes shut as more tears fell from them.

"Please don't," Happy whispered, completely unsure of what to do for her.

"I'm sorry I'm so stupid and annoying. I don't mean to be I just can't help it."

"You don't annoy me."

"You're so nice Mr Lowman. I'm really glad we're friends."

Happy smiled.

"You think, if I started dancing, you would come and watch? I mean, you wouldn't have to pay me or whatever and I could get you in for free. Just for a friendly face you know?"

"Dance?"

"I wanna move away and the girls get loads of money for dancing, more than I do anyway, and Kathy thinks I would be good at it."

Happy had absolutely no idea what she was talking about but he agreed to it all the same. He would agree to anything she said though, not that he would admit it; Happy Lowman was not a submissive man but she was different.

 **I full on cried while I was writing this-** she makes my heart hurt! What do we think of the guys destroying everything? And, Mr Duke-Dillinger and Jerry taking all of her money! How awful!

She deserves better. Gonna throw it out there, what do we want to happen? I mean, I've already got it planned out and stuff but I just fancy hearing your thoughts.

We want Happy to bite the bullet and kiss here or is he gonna be too nervous? Is he scared of his feelings?

How does Clay really feel about them liking Cat? Does he trust her?

What do _we_ think of Cat? I think we have seen some character development already, no?

Anyway, see you soon. Hopefully it won't be so long next time.

Lots of love, Doe xxxxxxx

P.s. I love reading all of your reviews so much! They are so encouraging and heartwarming!


	10. Chapter 9 - I'm Gonna Fix This

Chapter 9 – I'm Gonna Fix This

 **Catherine POV**

It was literally pouring down with rain outside, _still_ even though it had been hours since Jax took me back to his bar. I hate the rain and I hate the cold and it was both now. I opened my eyes and saw the dark room but heard angry shouting coming from behind the door. I didn't want to know what it was. I just wanted to be safe and go to sleep and be warm.

But then, I thought I heard Jack shouting in pain and I jumped up. I didn't even find my clothes or shoes and socks; I needed to get to my brother. I literally didn't care that there was loads of angry men there with him. Well, I did but because I was worried about him, not because I wasn't scared. When I ran into the bar I looked around, shouting for my brother, and looking at all the people in the bar. Mr Lowman was there and when he heard me calling for Jack he turned to look at me. He looked like he wanted to say something but I pushed, harder than I had wanted too, passed him to where Jack was sat at a chair with Mr Chibs bent over him. Jack was crying. His shoulders were shaking and I could hear him sniffing.

"Stop it!" I shouted at Mr Chibs, dragging him back by his leather jacket and fighting him away from my little brother, "Mr Chibs stop! _You're hurting him_! Leave him alone!"

"Cat, stop- Cat-"

" _Leave him alone!_ " I shrieked at him.

Mr Chibs tried to calm me down but I pushed hard on his chest and stomach until he stepped away from my brother with his hands up. Once he was away, I could see Jack properly. I wanted to cry from just looking at him but I couldn't. I _really_ wanted to cry but Jack needed me to be his big sister. I didn't know what to say; he was a literal mess. I could barely see his eyes from where they had swollen up and he was just… he looked like someone had thrown pasta sauce all over him and been stung by a million bees.

"Cat," Jack sniffed and held his arms out.

I stepped close to him, putting my arms around his shoulders and cradling his head to my chest, letting him wipe the blood off his face with the t-shirt Mr Lowman had given me and gently patting his head. It was like when we were back in LA and he got beaten up at school. People didn't care that he was in the football team; they just cared that he was gay and hurt him a lot. I got back at them though. Every. Single. Time.

"What happened, Jack?" I asked quietly, "What did they do? Who was it?"

"Jerry went mad, Cat. After you left… I don't know. There was this call about the site or something. Like, some shitheads blew up the entire place and… Cat, they _killed_ the guys that were guarding it," Jack whispered to me.

I blinked at him, surprised and feeling sick. Why would someone do that? I didn't understand.

I knelt on the floor in front of him, taking the med-kit from the table and took over cleaning Jack's face up. I didn't know what to say to him. He was scared, obviously I was too, but he needed me to say something to him to make him feel better but I had no idea what he wanted to hear. I just awkwardly dabbed at his face; trying to get all the blood off to see where it was all coming from.

"Jerry did that to your face too?" Jack asked me after an awkward silence.

I nodded.

"Why?"

"They fired Greta. I argued with him and he didn't like it. Why'd he hit you?"

"Because I argued with him and he didn't like it."

They _had_ to be more to it than that but he wasn't going to tell me with Mr Lowman and his friends hanging out around us. When I pulled out another damp cloth, I looked around to the men in the bar and noticed there were more than the guys that had found me in the bus stop. Mr Morrow was there and that guy that was smoking in my room and another really, really cute guy with head tattoos. I swallowed and blushed when I saw he was looking at me with a small smile.

Now is not the time to check guys out, not that it was stopping Jack.

I turned back to Jack's face and finished wiping away the blood. He had a split on his eyebrow that went all the way up to his hair line and his nose was broken. His lip was busted but looked worse than it actually was so I wouldn't need to give him any stitches there. I could already tell that he was going to cry again when I sewed up his forehead.

"How did you know I was here?" I asked.

"Didn't. Tig told Clay I should come here to get fixed up by Chibs… until you attacked him."

"Oh ok- no, wait. What? I thought you were at home with Jerry."

"Uh, yeah?"

"Then why…"

I trailed off in confusion and frustration. Sometimes I wish I wasn't as dumb as I really am. I looked at Mr Morrow from behind the tangles in my hair. What were him and his friends doing at my house at like, 3:30am? I didn't understand. If Daddy ever had a business meeting with him, Daddy always went to Mr Morrow at a normal business time.

My brain was starting to feel hot again.

Something was happening; I just didn't know what it was.

(((((((Splitting the story here))))))

 **Happy/3** **rd** **person POV**

Happy noticed the suspicious glances that Catherine was giving Clay and Tig. He didn't miss the small blush that appeared on her cheeks when Juice smiled at her either. He was going to have to keep a close eye on that. He loved Juice, obviously, but he wasn't going to let his friend take his girl away from him. As if reading his mind, or perhaps feeling the cold glare on his face, Juice looked up and caught his eye with a smirk and raised his eyebrows. Happy didn't want to let anybody know about how he felt for Catherine but, at the same time, he didn't want anyone else to have her either.

"If she thinks any harder," Clay mumbled too Happy from where he stood beside him, "smokes gonna come out of her ears."

He chuckled at his own joke and folded his arms as they watched the siblings together. Catherine was talking to her brother softly, like she was talking to a child. She was telling him that everything was going to be alright and he was safe now. The guilt Happy had felt earlier was coming back to him in waves. Jack was just a kid, a child and what they had done had caused him to be beaten within an inch of his life by a man they called uncle.

"I'm gonna get us out of here," Catherine whispered to Jack, "I promise. Ok? Whatever it takes, we're gonna get out of this _horrible_ town."

She stood up as Jack nodded in agreement and sat beside her brother on the bench; letting him rest his head on her legs and making it easier to stitch up the large gash in his head. It looked like his head had been smashed on something hard and sharp. Happy imagined it was the corner of a desk or on a table; he had done it enough people to know what it looked like.

"Stop being a big baby," Catherine scolded her brother gently when he whined, "it's either this or an ugly scar on your forehead. It's already big enough; you literally don't need to make it _more_ obvious."

At her "ugly scar" comment, the guys glanced over at Chibs; they were worried that she would have offended him but he didn't look like it had bothered him. His eyebrows were pulled together and his hand clenched, pressing against his mouth as he watched her with worry in his eyes and taking deep breaths. Happy understood how he felt.

"Shut up," Jack laughed quietly with his sister.

Happy noticed that, sometimes, Catherine looked so grown up and other times she looked like a kid. Now was one of the times that she looked like an adult. Her eyebrows were furrowed in worry and concentration as she worked over the large gash on Jack's face, cleaning it and sewing it closed.

"What are you gonna do?" Chibs asked her.

"Dance," Catherine told him but not looking away from her brother, "clean, sing on the street; whatever I need to do. I'm not giving Daddy any more money for his buildings."

Suddenly, her words from earlier made sense. Happy hadn't known what she meant by dancing but now, in a different context, it all became clear. He already knew that she worked at The Velvet Lounge as a cocktail waitress, though he had never worked up the nerve to go in himself, and he knew that it became a "high-class" strip club in the evenings but he had never even considered the possibility of her becoming a stripper. His heart dropped into his stomach at the thought of kind, innocent, virgin Catherine Duke-Dillinger taking her clothes off for sleazy business men and their friends. But, at the same time, he was getting excited because she asked him to go in and watch her if she was going to start because it meant he would finally be able to see what she looked like naked, or almost naked, and he wouldn't have to try and imagine anymore.

The men in the bar stood in silence while she sang quietly to her brother and ran her hands through his short, black hair to relax him. It worked well; the teenager fell asleep on the hard bench with his hand gripping her forearm and his head on her lap. The jealousy Happy felt was becoming almost unbearable; he wanted nothing more than to have her sing to him while he fell asleep but he wasn't going to shove the boy away and take his place in front of all of his friends. Besides, he wasn't sure he wanted to be attacked as viciously as Chibs had when she spotted him helping her brother. There were still marks on the Scotsman's leather kutte from where she had used her nails and fought him away. If he wasn't wearing it, Happy knew she could have caused some damage to his skin.

Clay shifted uncomfortably from where he was stood leaning against the bar. His mind kept going back to when they found Jack cowering away from Jerry in the entryway to the Duke-Dillinger home as he was being kicked in the stomach and head by the older man. Tig and Juice had had to pull the rich man away from the child while Clay helped the poor kid to his feet only to have a 6ft 3 teenager collapse on him. They hadn't even been able to go through with what they wanted to do since Tig seemed so worried about Jack and adamant that they needed to get him help. A fierce argument between Jerry and Tig had started but not about the new builds or the money the family owed the sons but about a fully grown man beating up a teenager.

"What's the plan?" Jax mumbled to him, "What are we gonna do?"

Clay shrugged hopelessly, "They need to leave."

"Clay-"

"I'm not kicking them out but they can't stay here."

Jax nodded with a sigh. None of them were under the impression that Clay would let them stay in the clubhouse but they also didn't want them to go back to their house now that they knew what life they would be going back too.

"I guess being rich doesn't solve all your problems, huh?" Jax asked with a small laugh.

 **Catherine POV**

When I looked at the clock, I saw that it was nearly 5am. I had slept for, like, an hour maybe then looked after Jack for the rest of the time and I was literally so tired. I felt like my eyes were going to drop out of my head.

"You wanna go back to bed?" I heard Mr Lowman say from next to me.

I opened my eyes and lifted my head up, blinking and confused because I didn't even know I had gone to sleep. Jack wasn't on my knee anymore and I gasped in fear.

"Where's Jack?!" I exclaimed, standing up quickly and stumbling over my feet to try and find my brother, "Where is-"

Mr Lowman grabbed my arms and stopped me from falling over. I looked up at him, tired and confused and feeling panicked, but he was as unreadable as ever. He had his hands on my shoulders and was shaking me gently, like he was trying to wake me up.

"He's with Jax. He's ok. Look."

When I turned my head and looked outside the open door I saw Jack stood near the door, out of the rain, talking to Jax. His face didn't look swollen anymore and I had done a really good job of sewing his face back together so it looked like it would heal nicely. We don't have any money to get to a hospital anymore. I nodded quickly, relieved that he was ok, and looked back up to Mr Lowman who was still stood in front of me with his hands on my shoulders. They were warm and comforting and a nice change from the really cold weather from outside.

"Thanks," I mumbled to him, folding my arms over my chest and looking down at my bare feet on the wooden floor, "for, like, letting us stay and stuff."

"S'ok."

I didn't really understand why they were being so nice to us, like, I don't think we have done anything that would make them want to help up us and they didn't really seem like the kind of people that would just help two kids for no reason.

"You… ok?" Mr Lowman asked awkwardly.

I just nodded and stepped forwards so that my forehead was on the middle of his chest and closed my eyes tightly. Jack was here now and I wasn't going to let him see my cry even though I felt like my life was ending. I hated it.

"You're the only good thing about this town, Mr Lowman," I whispered and sniffed, "I'm gonna miss you when we move back home."

I could feel his heart beating really fast underneath my cheek and he was so warm, like he was last night, and I wondered if maybe he was ill because he was out in the cold last night. I would have felt bad if he was because he was so nice and kind that he shouldn't ever be ill or hurt.

I think he said something, I think it might have been my name, but I didn't hear it. His voice is so deep and rough that when he spoke quietly you just couldn't understand anything he said. I nodded anyway because I was embarrassed to ask him what he said. I could literally have agreed to anything. He patted my hair gently and rested his arm across my shoulders in a kind of hug. It was nice.

"Catherine," he mumbled, "do you need to go to work?"

I groaned, rubbed my eyes and buried my face in his soft t-shirt. I didn't want to go to work today, I was literally so tired and my body hurt so much and I just couldn't do anything. I felt Mr Lowman laugh then pat my hair again.

"We can call them. Tell them you're ill."

"No Mr Lowman," I sighed and wrapped my arms around his waist, "I need to go. I need to get all the money I can."

"One day won't hurt," Mr Chibs said; making me jump.

I shook my head and looked over at Mr Chibs, under Mr Lowman's arm.

"I can't. I need money and I need to be somewhere safe. I'll take Jack with me; I'm not gonna let him go to school today."

Mr Chibs sighed and ran his hand through his hair. He was frowning at me but he didn't look angry, just worried. I reached my hand out to his and squeezed it tightly to let him know it was ok and he smiled at me, although he looked sad, before squeezing my hand back just as hard before letting go. I wanted Mr Chibs to be my dad. I think he would have been a good dad to his kid.

"Come on Cat, you're tired and ill. You can't go to work today," Jack said as he walked in.

I sighed and looked up at Mr Lowman; resting my chin on the middle of his chest, pouting. He was looking away, towards the door I think, but then looked down at me with the funniest, surprised expression on his face. He was literally so cute and I laughed. I don't think he was used to girls hugging him because he looked like he was blushing and couldn't look at me properly; he was looking at my hair as he was playing with it. Maybe he liked playing with my hair because he didn't have any.

"What was your hair like, Mr Lowman?" I asked him.

"Black," he told me with a nod, "and curly."

I grinned. I literally couldn't imagine him with any hair at all. I guess it would be grey now though because his stubbly beard thing was both grey and black. I had never looked at him this close up before. He was literally so good looking. I was lucky to have him as my best friend because he was so nice and really cuddly! I mean, he wasn't _that_ cuddly because he was really muscly and stuff, but he _was_ cuddly at the same time. I don't know. It's hard to explain.

"As nice as that is," Mr Chibs said kindly, "you need to decide. What are you gonna do?"

I shrugged, whining, and tucked myself back against Mr Lowman with my cheek on his chest again and hiding under his arm; away from everyone that wanted me to do stuff and think about things that made my brain hurt and get hot. I didn't want to decide. I wanted someone to decide for me because it was hard to think when I was so tired and sad. It was hard to think all the time.

"She should stay home," Mr Lowman said, patting the back of my head and wrapping his other arm around me so that I was fully hidden under him.

"You ok with that Lass?"

I nodded with my head in his arms and squeezing him tightly.

"She just nodded."

"Alright then. Jack? You got the number for the place? Where is it?"

(((((((Splitting the story here))))))

I loved having showers. It always made me happy to be in the water. Greta always told me I was a water baby. I just loved it. Mr Chibs had let me use a shower in the room I was staying in so that I could wash all of Jack's blood off of me and brush my hair. I didn't look messy but I just liked to do it. Halfway through my shower I had realised that I forgot to bring my tank top and shorts in with me; I was way too excited but when I poked my head out of the curtain I saw the bathroom door closing and someone had left my clothes and another t-shirt folded up on the linen basket next to the shower. They were literally so nice.

When I finally got out of the shower, I could smell food. My stomach growled and walked quickly into the main bar where I saw Mr Lowman, Mr Chibs, Jax, Mr Juice and Jack sat around a table with plates in front of them and polystyrene and plastic containers in front of them. Mr Lowman looked up when I appeared and slid over to make space for me to sit, pushing Mr Juice out of the way to do it. Mr Juice complained and shouted at him but he was laughing too. They were all really good friends and it made me jealous.

"Eat," Mr Lowman insisted, "here."

He pulled a plate over to the empty space and I saw it was piled with eggs and toast. I skipped over and happily sat beside him in the chair. I wasn't even angry that they were rude and had started without me because I was literally so hungry.

"Didn't know what vegetarians eat," Mr Lowman said awkwardly, "so I got you eggs."

"Oh Mr Lowman! I _love_ eggs. I normally have cereal or like… yeah. Just cereal I guess. Thanks Mr Lowman."

He smiled at me and ruffled my wet hair before turning to his own plate of food. I ate quickly and didn't talk to anyone while they all chatted about like, bikes and guns and stuff. I don't really know what they were talking about, I didn't listen, but the food was delicious. I hadn't eaten in ages.

"When are you gonna shower, Jack?" I asked him in a quiet time of the conversation.

"Psshhhh!" Jack scoffed, "I don't need a shower."

I wrinkled my nose and looked at him, telling him silently that he probably _should_ have a shower. He didn't smell but his clothes were covered in dirt and when I touched his hair last night there was blood in it. I know he was trying to be manly and stuff in front of the men but I was supposed to look after him.

He gave up arguing with me in the end though when Mr Chibs told him it would have been a good idea. I was showing them all the tricks I had taught Romeo to do when I heard Jack shouting from the room.

"Cat!" He shouted, sounding like he was in pain and scared, "Cat, I'm bleeding! Help!"

I stood up quickly, giving the small piece of toast I had been eating to Romeo, and jogged to the room to find there was blood on the carpets going into the open bathroom. The shower was going and when I walked in, through all the steam and stuff, I saw Jack sat on the closed toilet seat with his head in his hands and crying. There was blood coming through his fingers. He had wrapped a towel around his bottom half so at least I didn't need to see that. His body made me think of Mr Lowman's but his bruises were way less beautiful than Mr Lowman's tattoo's. I started to cry when I saw all of them. There was just so many.

"Oh Jack," I whimpered, "What has he done?"

I could see all the marks where had had been kicked in the stomach and the chest; on his shoulders where he had been grabbed; and the one that made me cry the most was the shoe print on his chest where Uncle Jerry had stamped on him. I went over to him and hugged him then saw the same sort of marks on his back and arms.

"I'm gonna fix this," I told him seriously even though I couldn't stop crying, "I'm gonna- I promise. Ok?"

Jack nodded and waited while I fixed up his cut again. I had turned the shower off and grabbed the medical stuff from the main bar, not looking at any of the people there. I didn't want to see them looking at me and looking so worried. I ignored Mr Chibs when he asked if I was ok.

I spent a long time fixing my brother up and making sure the stitches would hold this time. I guess I was really tired the first time and hungry and I just didn't do a very good job at trying to make him better.

"He told me I was disgusting, Catherine," Jack whispered to me after a while and I froze, "He said- Cat he told me I should die for what I am."

"What?" I asked with my teeth clenched and my hands shaking.

"He said he should do the world a favour and- he said-"

He started crying again but I was passed that now. I was just angry.

I was gonna fix all of this. I don't care about what how I felt about hurting other people because all I wanted to do was hurt Uncle Jerry for what he did and what he said to Jack. With this thought in my head and Jack's head finally sorted I moved away from him.

"Where are you going?" He asked, looking up at me like he used to when he was 10 and I was his most favourite person in the world.

"I'm gonna fix it. Get in the shower, clean yourself up. I'm gonna fix all of this, ok? Look after Romeo."

He just nodded.

If I hadn't ran away Jack wouldn't have been hurt. I wasn't that dumb that I didn't understand that and if I was there I would have jumped in front of him and let Uncle Jerry do whatever he wanted to me if it meant I would have saved Jack from everything that happened. It was my fault but I was going to make it right. I was going to do whatever I needed to do to get me and Jack out of that house and I was going to make Uncle Jerry pay for all the disgusting, wrong things that he had said to my brother to make him cry.

I went back into the bar and the men all looked at me with the same worried faces they had given me before but when they looked at me properly they looked a bit scared.

"I want to go home." I told them all seriously.

"Sweetheart, I don't think that's a good idea," Mr Chibs said kindly but I shook my head.

"Take me home, Mr Chibs. I need to make this better but I need to go home first."

"What are you thinking, Cat? We need to make sure you're safe before you do anything."

I shook my head again and crossed my arms tightly over my chest. I know I wasn't clever and I was small and stuff but I'm not a kid and none of these people had any reason to tell me what to do or to look after me. I could look after myself.

With this in my head, I scoffed and threw my hair over my shoulder before looking around the room to find my sneakers; I hadn't seen them since I took them off last night. I found them near the door and slipped them on before walking out into the rain again. If they weren't gonna take me home then I would walk. Nothing was gonna stop me from protecting my brother, not even horrible rain and cold weather and stupid, stubborn men.

I wrapped my arms around my body again, kind of happy that I was wearing the t-shirt over my thin tank top because it was kind of warmer until the water started soaking through it and making me cold again. My hair started to drip which kind of made me angry because I had literally just washed it again I had made my decision now and if I went back I would literally be so embarrassed. Romeo would be ok with Jack. He likes him and I think Mr Juice fell in love with him so he would be safe for sure.

"Catherine!" I heard someone call, "Stop!"

I looked back through the rain and saw Mr Lowman jogging up the road towards me. I waited for him to catch up before carrying on walking home. Why couldn't he have brought a car? Maybe he doesn't drive. I never thought of that before. I never saw him driving anything even though I know he had a scary motorcycle. I've only ever seen him walking. Weird.

"Come back," Mr Lowman said, taking my upper arm gently in his hand and tugging me to stop again but I was impatient and kept walking with my head down against the rain, "Catherine stop."

"It was raining when I met you guys," I said, ignoring him and changing the subject, "do you remember? In that horrible, dirty motel with the rude receptionist?"

I wasn't looking at him so I didn't know what his face was like or if he was even looking at me. I know he was still there because I could see his sneakers splashing through the puddles next to mine.

"I didn't know you guys then and I was scared of you and there was the scary man that grabbed me and shouted at me and Mr Chibs was really nice and held the door for me. You remember?"

"I remember," Mr Lowman said quietly.

"And you got those chips for me when the machine broke?"

"Yeah."

"That was really kind of you."

I don't know why I was telling him all of this. He was literally there so obviously he remembered but I don't know, maybe he didn't. I don't think he really knew how much he meant to me. He was the nicest person I had met in Charming, not really everyone was pretty nice but he was the only person that I had as a friend here.

I didn't even know I was crying again until he pulled me against his chest and held my head against his wet t-shirt and wrapped me up in his leather vest.

"Just… stop," he said quietly, "come here."

"He told him he should die," I sobbed, looking up at him and squinting as the rain fell on my face, "who says that? Who does that? Why? He's a baby!"

The rain was falling down Mr Lowman's head and onto his face. He doesn't have any hair to stop it I guess. He was so pretty, even though I was sad and my eyes hurt, I could help noticing how pretty he was. I liked his eyes the best I think. Maybe his lips too. I was looking at him and he was looking at me and I thought that if this was a movie he would probably kiss me but it wasn't a movie and he didn't love me. I liked him but not like that. I ducked my head back into his jacket and sighed. He didn't give me any advice but I understood he felt awkward about it.

"I love you, Mr Lowman," I whispered to him, "you're my best friend."

I think I felt him nod before he tightened his arms around me.

(((((((Splitting the story here))))))

Mr Lowman walked with me to my house with his arm over my shoulder and keeping me next to him. When I stood at the end of the path to the door I froze. I knew Uncle Jerry was still there because his car was in the driveway. I had been hoping he was in.

"You ok?" Mr Lowman asked.

I nodded and walked up the path towards the door. The door was unlocked and the inside was really cold. The house didn't feel like home anymore. It was really messy inside too; there was blood all over the floor and broken glass under my sneakers. It was also really quiet. I couldn't hear Daddy or Mom talking so Uncle Jerry was alone. Good.

"Where are you?" I called out angrily, stamping my foot on the broken glass.

I heard laughter coming from upstairs and it made me shiver. He was in my bedroom. I checked to see if Mr Lowman was behind me or whether he had gone home. He was still there, glaring up the stairs and breathing quietly but heavily. I made my way quietly up the stairs with him following me towards my room.

When I turned the corner, I saw my door open and scraps of fabric covering the hallway. I was starting to feel scared now but knowing that Mr Lowman was here made me feel better. I crouched down and picked up a handful of material then gasped and dropped it all. It was pieces of my clothes. I noticed scraps of dresses and skirts and tops. I saw the outfit I wore to the party at the garage shredded further up the hallway and the dress I wore when I met Mr Lowman in the park under my feet.

"These are my clothes," I whispered to Mr Lowman, and held out the shredded dress to him, "look."

"What the fuck?" He mumbled back.

I couldn't back down now. I promised Jack that I would fix this and I would follow through with this. Catherine Duke-Dillinger was not a quitter. I could say that about myself at least.

I carried on walking through to my room where I saw Uncle Jerry sat on my bed with a pair of scissors in his hands and a handful of my underwear in the other. I literally wanted to throw up. Mr Lowman didn't follow me into the room though; he stood against the wall beside the doorway. He nodded at me, letting me know that he was there. I was happy he understood that I needed to do this on my own.

"Welcome home Catherine," Uncle Jerry said with a smirk as he chewed through a handful of expensive, lace panties and a bra with the scissors.

(((((((Splitting the story here))))))

 ***Intense cliffhanger*-** not even gonna make an excuse. Sorry buddies! How do we feel about Jack and Catherine? What did he find out that made Jerry hurt him so much? ( **hint** : it's not all because he's gay) Do you like my fake out kiss scene? Just thought I would tease you all.

I have so much of this planned out just no idea how to connect the scenes together!

What do we think Happy is going to do next? Where are they going to go from here? Where have Daddy and Mom gone? Is Chibs going to adopt Catherine? This isn't planned but honestly such a cute idea!

I love you!

Love, Doe xxxx


	11. Chapter 10 - He's Not Dead

Chapter 10 – He's Not Dead

 **Happy/ 3** **rd** **Person POV**

"We can't just let her go!" Juice exclaimed at Jax and Chibs, "That guy's gonna kill her! You didn't see what he was doing to the kid and he's like… at least 3 times her size!"

"We're not her babysitters," Jax said with a reluctant sigh.

Chibs huffed angrily. He knew that Jax was right but that didn't stop any of them from getting over protective of her. It _was_ because she was tiny, barely coming up to Happy's shoulder, that they felt that way. Juice was right. Jerry had damn near killed Jack who was taller than all of them and built like a pro-football player so what he would do to little Catherine didn't bare thinking about. She was a kind and innocent girl that probably had no chance of defending herself.

"If he doesn't kill her, the cold's gonna," Juice argued, "she's practically naked!"

"Stop! Her brother's still here you idiot!"

No one said anything for a while. They just sat there thinking, wondering what she was planning to do. Her face had been so serious and dark that it was almost frightening. The angry atmosphere was unsettling but Happy had still found himself smiling when she had crossed her arms and threw her hair around because it reminded him so much of when he had first met her. Happy remembered when he didn't know who she was at the motel all those months ago and he sat with his brothers watching her tottering around the dusty parking lot in stupidly high shoes and short shorts and a tiny crop top. He remembered how turned on he was watching her bend over the trunk of the car to put her suitcases in. When her brother went to talk to them and she was so funny and bratty and he loved it.

He remembered when she looked at him with big, innocent eyes and called him sir.

There was nothing that could stop him now, with those thoughts in his mind, and he stormed through the door after her and chased her through the rain; leaving his friends confused. He grunted when the rain hit him but didn't let it stop him from going after his girl. She had gotten far, Jax had told him she walks fast, but he managed to catch up with her. She had stopped and waited for him.

He didn't know what to do when he had caught up though. He wasn't sure what he had planned on doing but he decided he would try and get her to go back to the garage where she would be safe and warm and where he knew he could look after her but one look at her face and he knew there would be no convincing her so he would just stay by her side while she did what she needed to do. Whatever that was.

When she told him that she loved him, his stomach fell down to his knees and he didn't know what to do. Nothing made him feel quite so uncertain like Catherine did. He was glad that she wasn't looking at him and that she was tucked into his kutte because he looked dumb as shit. His mouth was opening and closing and all he could do was nod and hug her and hope that she understood that he loved her too. There was something about the way she seemed to seek refuge in him that made his heart beat slightly quicker and he wanted to tell her that she could always come to him for comfort because he would always keep her safe but words were never his strong point and, even if he tried, he would always say something wrong and upset her so he said nothing. He just let her cry and wrapped her up in his kutte out of the rain; trying desperately to let her know that he was there for her, for whatever she needed him for.

"Sorry, Mr Lowman," she mumbled, voice quiet in the rain and muffled under the leather, "I don't mean to cry so much. I'm just sad and angry."

"I know. It's ok."

Her arms squeezed him tighter once more before she slipped her hands around to rest on his stomach so that she could push herself away slightly and she peered up at him through a gap in his kutte.

She reminded him of a kitten Mama once rescued when he was a child, big scared eyes blinking up at him and all wet and bedraggled but still cute as hell. It had been by a river with its dead brothers and sisters just crying and shouting for help when she was on her morning walk. He remembered how she had come through the door, with it tucked into her shawl and showed it to him. Happy didn't really know what to do with is when she had put it in his hands. The kitten was climbing over him and making him laugh when she played with his tattered t-shirt and chewed on his hair.

"Name her Mijo!" Mama had told him, "She is yours!"

"El Gato," A young Happy had said with a giggle as she hung off his head and tried to chew his ear.

"You can't just call her that! She needs a proper name!"

"I wanna call her El Gato!"

Happy spent a long time in juvie as a teenager, getting out when he was just about Catherine's age and after that he never saw El Gato again. He didn't ask Mama about it and she didn't mention it either. It was just one of those things that he was bitter about but that he would have to live with. He had suspected that she had died or gone missing and Mama didn't have the heart to tell him because, even though he was put in prison for numerous terrible things, she still saw him as an innocent little boy.

A kitten. It fit her so well and it made him smile.

Catherine was looking up at him curiously, blinking in the rain and then he realised that she was touching his face; wiping the rain away from his eyes and off his cheeks. She was gentler than anyone had ever been with him and sweeter than a man like him deserved but regardless, he shut his eyes and leaned in to her touch; finally happy that the knot of jealousy seemed to be loosening with every gentle swipe.

"I appreciate you coming after me, Mr Lowman," Catherine whispered as she shyly looked over his features from beneath wet eyelashes, "but I'm not going back. I need to do this, for Jack."

"I know. I'm with you."

Catherine stayed looking up at him for a moment before she nodded and moved away; leaving him feeling empty and cold. The grey t-shirt she was wearing was now soaked and dark grey with the damp material clinging to her body. He tried not to look, to even think about it, but as she was walking away he couldn't help it.

There was something about the house that set him on edge. It was too quiet and too dark. He wasn't sure if Catherine realised that she had had reached out to take his hand and he didn't flinch away this time. Instead, he linked his fingers with hers; holding onto her hand tightly and let her take him upstairs to find Jerry. There was a sense of dread radiating from Catherine, all of her earlier confidence and anger dissipating into fear. Her hand, like the rest of her, was small in comparison to him. This just made him desperate to keep her safe even though he knew she had to do this on her own; he was just there to make sure she was safe. There was no telling what Jerry was capable of. Like Juice said, she was 3 times smaller than her brother and he got beaten pretty badly.

In his mind, he had always wanted to know what kind of underwear she wore. He had listened to Tig discuss it with Juice often as to whether she wore lace or cotton or something else and it had made his imagination run wild but he didn't want to see it like this. It littered the floor in delicate scraps of beige and pink and, surprisingly, black. He wasn't going to report back to the others though. That knowledge was just for him.

With his back to the wall, just outside of her bedroom, he could only hear what was going on. His hand was on the gun at his hip because he knew he would kill for her if he needed too. He would kill Jerry for fun.

Her tentative footsteps and the sound of scissors cutting through material were the only things he could hear for a while. Happy was willing for her to be brave and confident and angry, like she was back at the clubhouse.

 **Catherine POV**

I folded my arms over my wet clothes. Uncle Jerry looked at my t-shirt in confusion while he read the word across the front of it.

"Where have you been?" He asked with a frown.

"With friends."

"With Clay Morrow?"

I shook my head. He wasn't there the entire time, like, he brought Jack in then left so I wasn't _technically_ lying. I thought maybe I shouldn't let him know that Mr Lowman was with me if he was angry about me maybe hanging out with Mr Morrow.

"Why did you do it? Uncle Jerry, Jack is a kid. You can't just hurt him like that."

Uncle Jerry scattered the pieces of my underwear on the floor in front of him and said literally nothing. I watched as it all fluttered to the floor and tried really hard not to want to go and beg for him to stop. I wanted to shout and scream at him but then I remembered that Mr Lowman was here and I didn't want to look like a total wuss in front of him. I needed to be a grown up now.

"Where is your disgusting brother? Hm? With Clay?" Uncle Jerry said.

He was so weird and literally nothing like he was when I was a kid. Uncle Jerry used to be like, my best friend and I used to always go to his house for dinner and to sleepover when Daddy was working late. I used to trust him but there was something about him now that I hated. I didn't want him in my bedroom, touching my clothes and all of my things. Uncle Jerry never hurt me before _that_ day.

"Why did you _hurt_ him?" I demanded to know, stamping my foot loudly to get his attention back on me instead of my clothes on the floor.

He stood up, smiling at me like he used too when I was a kid. I used to think it was a kind smile but now it was mean and scary and made me want to cry. My feet squeaked on the wooden floor as I stumbled backwards while he walked towards me with his arms out. As if I was gonna hug him now.

"Come on Catherine, don't be scared. I'm sorry for hurting you but you can't just scream and get what you want anymore. It was cute when you were a baby but you're… all grown up now."

His voice made me shudder. I was almost back at the door where I hoped Mr Lowman would still be waiting for me. I _really_ hoped he would be there; Mr Lowman feels safe.

I literally had no idea what I was thinking coming back here. I should have listened to Mr Chibs and stayed at the garage with them. I wasn't brave enough to argue with Uncle Jerry.

While I was thinking, I stopped paying attention to Uncle Jerry. I'm so stupid, why? Why did I stop watching him? Because he came forwards and slammed the door shut behind me before I could even try to run back out. I screamed in surprise until he grabbed my neck and pushed me back against the door. He was so close to me and I hated it. I hated it so much that I started crying.

"Don't think I didn't know your friend was with you," Uncle Jerry hissed as I thumped weekly on the wooded door to try and get Mr Lowman's attention, "I'm not stupid. They don't walk very quietly."

"Hey!" I heard Mr Lowman shout from the other side of the door, "Catherine!"

The door shook behind me as Mr Lowman banged on it but Uncle Jerry turned the key and reached up to shut the locks that Mr Chibs helped me put on there. I tried to claw at his hand and kick at his legs but he didn't look like he was bothered by it. I was so weak though. I should have just stayed at the garage with Jack and Romeo.

"Stop crying!" Uncle Jerry shouted at me.

It was so loud and in my face and I just couldn't stop crying because I was so scared. He smelled like alcohol. Mr Lowman was still banging on the door and rattling the handle.

"Please," I begged Uncle Jerry, "please don't hurt me."

He just laughed again and pulled me back from the door to throw me onto my bed. I kind of got caught up on the canopy and landed heavily on the open scissors which were digging into my hip bone. It was so loud. Everything was so loud. I was screaming and crying, Mr Lowman was still banging on the door and he was now shouting in a kind of panicked voice but I couldn't understand what he was saying and Uncle Jerry was shouting at me to be quiet.

"Catherine!" Mr Lowman shouted harshly.

I was too scared to answer him. The look in Uncle Jerry's eyes was terrifying and his grin was so big that I could see all of his teeth as he bent over me with his arms on either side of my head. I kicked him in the stomach and started to move back towards my headboard, fighting off his hand where it was pulling at the t-shirt to stop me. It was big though, and stretchy so I could just about get there. If only I could get to my bedside table. I just needed to get in the drawer there.

I rolled onto my stomach as he pulled me by my leg back down the bed. I could hear his heavy breathing and feel his hands on the waistband of my shorts, then pushing my t-shirt and tank top over my back before he pushed down with one hand and fought with my shorts with the other. I knew what he was planning, I wasn't _that_ stupid and it just made me want to get to the drawer even more. I was still crying silently and breathless from fear and from struggling away from him. Suddenly, I hated that my sheets were made of silk; it hurt when my skin got dragged against them and made me slip when I wanted to fight him away. Somehow, I managed to kick him in the face which made him stop holding me down for just enough time to scramble up to my bedside table.

"Stop," Uncle Jerry growled, "misbehaving Catherine! You're supposed to be a good girl for me!"

Just as I grabbed hold of the handle of the drawer he pulled me back to him by my damp hair. It hurt so much but I didn't let go of the handle so the contents scattered over my floor. I heard what I wanted thud down but I don't think he noticed.

I need to fight back, I thought, I need to fight back. Mr Lowman wasn't going to be able to get in on time.

My eyes were flicking over my floor and among the tattered pieces of underwear and clothes I saw the shiny silver of the handgun Daddy had given me for my last birthday. It wasn't far away from the bed. I just needed to get away.

"You don't belong to anyone but me, Catherine," Uncle Jerry was saying to me as his hand was moving up my stomach towards my bra, "you've always been my little girl. Did Daddy never tell you where he got the money to build these houses from?"

My head was hurting from where he held my hair and from thinking. I never asked where he got the money from; I literally didn't care. All I knew was that he was taking me away from my friends and my home to come here. As soon as he pulled my bra down to touch me I realised I still had the drawer in my hand and it was heavy. It was really heavy.

Without really thinking, I swung the wood blindly and managed to get him in the shoulder or the head. I don't know but he let go of my hair to fight me off. I took the chance. I didn't know if I was going to get another one. Lunging off the bed, not even caring if I hurt myself anymore, I escaped from him and landed on the floor. I couldn't see my gun anywhere. I didn't know where it had gone.

Frantically, I searched through the stuff that had fallen out of the drawer and through the clothes. I was running out of time before he stopped being confused. Mr Lowman had gone, I think. He had left me alone.

 **Happy/ 3** **rd** **Person POV**

The sound of Catherine crying and struggling was unbearable. It didn't matter how much he kicked at the door or shouted for her. He couldn't get in and he didn't want to shoot the door down just in case she was there. He didn't want to hurt her.

"Get here!" he shouted down the phone at Jax, "Now! _GET HERE NOW_!"

He knew he sounded panicked and scared but he also knew the guys wouldn't judge him for it. Catherine was going to be hurt and he was powerless to help her from the other side of the door.

It felt like hours before he heard the sound of motorcycles outside. He ran downstairs, not wanting to leave Catherine but needing to show them where to go. It looked like Jax had called all of the guys to come to her aid. He would thank him later. Without saying a word he beckoned them into the house and up the stairs. The sound of heavy boots on glass and screaming were the only things they could hear for a while.

"Stop!" Happy shouted at Tig when he went to shoot the door.

"Either she gets shot or she gets raped," Tig said without looking at him before shooting the handle of the door and a few times in the middle of the wood to weaken it.

The thought of either outcome made Happy feel sick.

Tig and Chibs kicked through the door and it crashed open at the same time as more gun shots rang out; silencing everybody and making them look around at each other. Nobody had their gun out and it had come from inside the room.

"Oh Sweetheart," Chibs breathed before he pushed passed everybody to go into the room, "it's alright. We're here now. We're here."

Happy looked in to see Jerry collapsed on the ground with blood from the wound on his shoulder staining the white shirt. Catherine looked up at Chibs, reaching up to him with both arms; like a child to their parent and he knelt beside her. He cradled her to him with his lips pressed to the top of her head and stroking her hair gently.

He hated that he couldn't go to her, that he wasn't the first person in the room to make sure she was ok but the truth was that he was scared. He was terrified of what she would look like; what state she would be in. Would Jerry have succeeded? Did he get what he wanted? He couldn't do anything as his friends went in, looking everything over and checking to see if Jerry was alive. He was, just knocked out.

"It's ok," Chibs whispered kindly as Catherine wound her hands into his t-shirt and pulled herself closer to him, crying and burying her face into the material.

"Did- did I kill him?" She asked quietly.

"No Lass, no he's not dead. You're alright. No morals hurt there."

Catherine nodded.

There was a clump of blonde hair in Jerry's relaxed hand that made Happy hot with anger. Her beautiful hair had been ripped out roughly and it would have been painful but then again, probably not the worst thing that had happened to her that morning.

"She ok?" Jax asked Chibs once he had finished inspecting the broken piano.

"Yeah, she's gonna be fine. Won't you sweetheart? You'll be ok. Come on now, let's get up and I'll take you home. Ok?"

He stood up slowly, bringing the girl up with him. She stood on trembling legs and looked over at Jerry who was starting to come around.

"Please don't let me be arrested Mr Chibs," Catherine whispered, "it was- I was protecting myself."

"We know. He's not gonna get the police involved."

Bobby laughed as Jax, Opie and Tig dragged Jerry onto the balcony of her bedroom and locked the door; leaving him locked out in the rain with no way of getting back in unless he punched through the thick glass or jumping down to the garden below. Happy would have done more than that but not with Catherine there and not without Clay's go ahead.

"Come on Hap," Chibs said kindly, "look after your girl."

Happy looked at him with shock. There was no reason for him to say that but the amused look on his face said everything. Even though it was a serious issue, Chibs was poking fun at Happy.

Happy looked down at Catherine and pulled his eyebrows together when he saw her expression. She was upset, obviously, but there was something else. She was worried or concerned about something. She shook her head slightly, mumbling something that sounded like his name, before crossing the small distance to clasp her arms around his waist. With a relieved sigh, Happy held her tightly with his hand on the back of her head. Her hair was still damp from the rain.

"I got you," he murmured to her, "I've got you now."

She sobbed lightly into his chest.

 **Catherine POV**

Mr Morrow had told me that Jack and I could stay for one more night at their house but then I would have to find somewhere else for us to go. I accepted, wondering where we would be going after that but just happy I wouldn't have to stay with Uncle Jerry. I wanted to know where Daddy and Mom had gone, I needed Greta to come back to look after us. I just wanted to go _home_.

Jack had gone crazy when he saw me. Shouting at Mr Lowman and yelling at me. I just turned into Mr Lowman again and hid from him. Mr Lowman put his arm up over my head and covered open ear with his hand. I didn't want to be shouted at anymore.

"I shot him," I mumbled to Jack, "I shot Jerry."

That made him go quiet.

"He's not dead."

"Cat…"

I shook my head. I wanted it to stop. Everything hurt. My knees, my arms and my neck. My head was really painful too and I was scared. I was nearly- Uncle Jerry nearly- I didn't even want to think about it. I never wanted to think about it again.

"Let her rest, ok?" Mr Lowman said firmly, "Come on."

I nodded and let him take me back to that room that smelt like old beer and cigarettes but made me feel so safe and warm that I didn't care at all. I didn't want him to go. I didn't want Mr Lowman to leave because I wanted to feel safe. He told me that Mr Chibs was gonna come in and have a look at me to make sure I was ok and not too badly injured. I knew I wasn't but I thought maybe they wouldn't let me argue with them. I just nodded at him and sat down with my head in my hands and my elbows on my knees. I didn't feel like crying anymore.

I felt my wet laces brushing against my ankles and when I peeped through my fingers I saw Mr Lowman sat on the floor trying to undo them. It was funny watching him fiddle with my triple knotted laces. He was frowning in concentration and I could have helped him but it was way too funny watching him struggle.

"Why'd you tie them so much?" He asked, scratching his head.

I shrugged.

With a huff, he started to try again. I smiled behind my hands, I wondered why he was helping me to take my shoes off but then Mr Chibs walked in carrying the medical box that probably hadn't been put away since I helped Jack this morning. He smiled at me and raised his eyebrow at Mr Lowman who had finally been able to get the first knot undone.

"Come on then," Mr Chibs said, "let's have a look at you."

"I'm ok. I don't need anything."

"You're bleeding," Mr Lowman said, not looking up from my sneakers, "on your side."

I looked around my body and saw blood on my clothes and my arm. I hadn't even noticed.

"You mind lifting your shirt up?" Mr Chibs asked gently.

I shook my head and stiffly pulled the t-shirt over my head so that I was just in my tank top which was even more covered in blood. Gross. I let Mr Chibs tug it up slightly but whined when I finally felt what hurt. I couldn't see anything because it was too far around but Mr Chibs swore so it must be bad. I also had two broken nails and that was literally the worst.

When I looked down at my hands I still couldn't believe that I actually shot someone. Not just someone though, Uncle Jerry. I tried so hard like my entire life not to ever hurt anyone but I didn't have a choice, right? I couldn't just let him hurt me like that.

"Looks like it's gonna heal fine," Mr Chibs said, "you're not gonna need any stitches. More blood than anything."

"Do you guys hate me?" I asked.

"Why would we hate you?"

"Because I shot a guy? You're like, really nice and stuff and I just… _shot_ someone."

Mr Lowman and Mr Chibs looked at each other for a second and I looked between them.

"We don't hate you," Mr Lowman assured me with a small nod at Mr Chibs, "we get it."

"You promise?"

Mr Lowman looked up at me seriously and nodded. He shuffled forwards so that his crossed legs were against my feet on the floor and, kind of shyly, and rested his forehead on my knees and put his hands on the back of my legs; kind of wrapping them around my calves gently. I smiled. I kind of felt a bit brave and touched his head. I don't know what I expected it to feel like but it literally felt so smooth. I had never noticed that he had a tattoo on his head as well. I was too short I guess and I never ever saw the top of his head. It was a snake, like the one on his chest I remembered, and curled around itself. It must have hurt to get but I think Mr Lowman is like a tough-guy so he was probably ok with it. I followed it around with my finger to try and distract myself from Mr Chibs wiping the blood off of my side and cleaning the wound with the alcohol wipes.

When he was done, Mr Chibs packed the stuff away and stood up. He put his hand on the back of my head and leaned down to kiss my forehead nicely.

"Rest well, ok? You've had a rough couple of days. Hap's gonna stay with you, apparently."

"Can you be my new dad?" I asked Mr Chibs.

He smiled. Mr Chibs had dimples and it was literally so adorable that it made me smile too. He patted my head gently. He wasn't saying no.

"Sleep. We're gonna look after your brother and pup. Just look after yourself for now."

I nodded but then looked back down to Mr Lowman who was breathing deeply and I wondered if maybe he was asleep.

I heard the door to the room close and Mr Lowman jumped slightly before looking up at me with wide eyes. I laughed quietly and put my hand on his cheek and he closed his eyes with a sigh.

"Thanks Mr Lowman, for helping me and stuff. I- if you weren't there-"

"Stop."

He didn't wanna think about it either. I think maybe I was gonna have to think about it at some point but right now, I decided I was just gonna sit here with Mr Lowman and we could try and not think about it together.

 **FUCKING BOOM BITCHES-** look whom has uploaded again! it's me. I did and I'm very proud of myself. Kind of a Happy-centric chapter but I don't think that's too bad every now and again, right? next is gonna be more of Cat.

How do we feel about this chapter? Did we cry? How is Happy feeling that he couldn't be there to comfort her as soon as he could and had to let Chibs do it?

I gave you angsty chapter with a cute as fuck ending. That kind of makes up for it.

See you in the next one lovelies!

Love, Doe xxxxx


	12. Chapter 11 - Flames

Chapter 11- Flames

(please be aware this chapter has mentions of torture and serious injury)

Mr Chibs came in every half an hour or whatever to check on me. He was kind of angry that I wasn't asleep and that Mr Lowman was but I didn't mind. I had literally never been more tired in my entire life but even though I tried really hard I couldn't sleep. Mr Chibs said I was in shock and that I probably should just stay lying down but it would have been awkward to lie down next to Mr Lowman. So I just sat staring at things in Mr Opie's room in between Mr Chibs' visits. There were pictures of men I didn't know and some other things to do with motorcycles on the walls.

"You need sleep poppet," Mr Chibs said and sat beside me on the edge of the bed, "you're going to make yourself sick."

I sighed and rubbed my eyes as he put his arm around my shoulders; pulling me to his side and kissing me on the top of my head. He was so warm. Then he started to hum quietly, a song I didn't recognise, and rock me from side to side. There was nothing I could do to stop my eyes from closing and my body leaning into him. I knew I was going to go to sleep soon and my brain started to go fuzzy.

"Daddy," I mumbled tiredly.

"Shhh sweetheart," Mr Chibs hushed and stroked my hair softly, "I'm here. You're alright. You're gonna be ok. Just go to sleep."

I nodded and curled up into his side as he started to hum again. I knew he wasn't Daddy and I really didn't mean to call him by the wrong name but I'm just going to blame it on being tired. Eventually though, I felt myself falling asleep as he started to hum his song again. And I couldn't stop him from lying me down on the lumpy pillow and pulling the blankets up over my shoulder. I felt safe.

((((((Splitting the story here))))))))

I didn't know what time it was ever. I didn't have a watch or my phone and none of the rooms had clocks. How long had I been asleep? Was Jack ok?

I knew Mr Lowman was still beside me on the bed; I could feel his arm on my back. How was I this embarrassed? Mr Lowman was my best friend and I had shared beds with my best friends before. Like, back home with all my friends at sleepovers and stuff. It wasn't even because he was a man because I've had lots of male friends before. I think it's just because he was Mr Lowman.

"You up?" I heard him say.

"How'd you know?" I asked.

He shrugged.

I think he just knows things.

"You snore."

I sat up with a shocked gasp, turned around and hit him weakly on the chest with my hands; making him laugh quietly and try to defend himself. I knew he could have literally thrown me across the room if he wanted me to stop but I think, secretly, he was having fun too.

" _I do not snore_!" I laughed and thumped his shoulder once.

He caught my wrist in his hand and stared up at me with an amused smile on his face. He was never rough with me, I noticed, not like he was with his friends. He pushed them around all the time when they were joking and laughing but when it was me he was always kind and gentle.

"Do."

I struggled in his grip to hit him again but gave up when he wouldn't let go and just sat beside him on the mattress with him still holding my arm but it wasn't hard and it didn't hurt; just enough so that if I pulled really hard I would get it back. I knew I didn't snore. Mr Lowman was just teasing me and it felt nice to laugh again. He was still looking at me and smiling but then looked down at my hand, holding my wrist with one hand and then turning it over with his other one. There were bruises on my knuckles and splinters in my fingertips. There was also a burn from the gun between my thumb and pointer finger.

"You ok?" He asked quietly as he traced over my palm with his fingers, "Does it hurt?"

"A bit," I nodded, "but not much. I'm tough."

I laughed because I thought he was going to make fun of me again but when he looked back up at me I could see that he was serious now, and he wasn't laughing with me.

"I know."

Mr Lowman saying I was tough made me feel really happy and want to cry. I felt my eyes start to fill with tears and he smiled at me.

"Stop," Mr Lowman chuckled and sat up, using my hand to pull himself up but not letting go, "you don't need to."

"I'm sorry."

He smiled at me again as I heard the door open and he dropped my hand quickly so it fell onto his leg. I felt myself smirking when I looked at his face. Mr Lowman wasn't the kind of person I would expect to blush like he was but he also wasn't the person I thought would be kind to a girl like me either. But he was doing both right now.

"Good," Mr Chibs say, "Catherine we've got- Tara's here. It's about your mum."

Mommy? I turned around to look at him with wide eyes. I was starting to get feel happy and hopeful but then I saw his face. I wanted to demand to know about it but the way he was looking at me made me think I maybe didn't want to know.

"Come on sweetheart."

I scrambled to my feet then climbed off the bed; running passed Mr Chibs and towards the main room where I guessed this Tara person would be waiting. I saw Jack sat fidgeting at a table with a pretty brown haired woman and Jax. The men from earlier, Mr Opie and Juice, had gone. Everyone looked nervous and scared.

Before I even started talking to them I made sure my brother was ok. He tried to push my hands away from the cut on his face but I told him off. He let me after that and I noticed Jax smirking. The gash on Jack's head was looking alright and the swelling in his face was going down so it was just his bruises that needed to fade and he would be back to his old self. Jack looked so much like Daddy it was crazy.

"Is Mom dead?" I asked the pretty lady, looking up from Jack's head.

"No darlin'," Jax said kindly, "she'll be alright."

"Your uncle hurt her," Tara said in that voice that doctors use when they give you bad news, "really badly. You need to know, before you see her, ok? I want you to be prepared."

"How bad?" Jack asked.

"He… he cut out her eye, she missing 3 fingers and got a deep stab wound in her stomach but she's going to live."

Now I really felt like I was going to throw up. Mr Chibs helped me to sit in the chair beside Jack and rubbed my back comfortingly. A glass of water was put in front of me and I drank it down quickly. Jack started crying. I knew I should have done something to make him feel better but I felt literally so numb that I couldn't do anything.

"I want to see her. Someone take me to see her. Now." I demanded, "Or am I gonna have to walk again?"

I looked around at them, then up at Mr Chibs who looked like he was trying really hard not to look at me. Jax sighed and ran his hands through his hair.

"Cat, we don't think you should go. You remember what happened last time you did something we told you not too?"

Jax looked so smug, smirking at me like he knew what was best for me. I looked at him angrily and slammed my glass so hard on the table that it smashed. Everyone jumped back, Mr Chibs included, and I was so angry that I didn't even feel the glass in my hand. How dare he? Did he not know who I was?

" _I_ am going to see Mom! She is hurt and alone. She's terrified! We're a family and we need to stay together. Jerry hurt Jack, and Mom, and we need to be together now. Come on Jack, I'll call a cab."

"For fuck sake Catherine," Mr Chibs growled angrily, "we're trying to keep you safe!"

I stood back up and turned around to face him, folding my arms over my chest and stamping my foot. I wasn't scared of him. I wasn't scared of any of them anymore. I had been through way too much over the past two days to be scared of anything anymore. I protected myself then and if anything was going to happen now I could protect me and Jack.

"I can keep myself safe."

"You shoot one guy in the shoulder and you think you're a badass, huh?"

"Mr Chibs, _stop_. Stop shouting at me, I hate it!"

He frowned at me. He looked so sad.

"I don't want you getting hurt again, Catherine," Mr Chibs sighed.

"None of us do," Jax said, "so if you're gonna go you need to take someone with you. We don't know if your uncle's gonna be hanging around. I'll go, Hap?"

I looked around and saw Mr Lowman stood a few feet away with his arms folded and his eyes on me. It was like before I knew him and we came to the garage with Daddy and Mom. It's like I could feel him looking at me before I even noticed. When I looked at him, pleading him with my eyes to please, _please_ come to the hospital with us because they wouldn't let us go otherwise, he tensed his jaw and nodded. I really wanted to hug him and thank him but I had to keep being angry and annoyed at them for trying to stop me from making sure that my family was alright. I tilted my chin up and turned away, pushing passed Mr Chibs and Mr Lowman to get my sneakers and wash my hands.

I heard Mr Chibs laugh and I knew he had forgiven me for being angry with him.

((((((Splitting the story here))))))))

"Mr Lowman can you stop?" I told him, leaning across the middle seat and putting my hand on his knee, "You're making me nervous."

He stopped bouncing his legs and sat back against the seat. I think maybe he didn't like car rides very much. Jax took the exit towards the hospital and I started to get nervous again. I hated hospitals, especially when people I know are in them. They always smelled funny and made me uncomfortable.

"Ready?" Jax asked me as he parked up.

I nodded and clambered out of the car with my arms wrapped around my body and hurrying to follow Jax and his girlfriend across the parking lot and through the doors. Tara led me to a room in the ICU with a closed door and Mom's name on it.

"Are you gonna be ok on your own?" Tara asked quietly, putting her hand on my arm.

Was I ready to see Mom like that? How was she going to look? Maybe she would be asleep and wouldn't see me looking such a mess. But maybe she would be awake.

I nodded quickly and walked through the door before I could over think what I was going to see when I went in. Jack wouldn't come with me. He said he couldn't see Mom in a hospital bed with only one eye and no fingers and it literally didn't matter what I said to him; he still refused to come with me. I could do this.

"Catherine? Is that you?" Mom said when I closed the door.

"Yeah Mom."

I couldn't talk any louder than a whisper and it took me a while to turn around to look at her. I knew what she was going to look like. I had seen people with missing parts before but that was never people I knew, just random people that the ambulance went too. When I did look I started to cry.

She had a bandage around her head, covering her left eye and most of her head. There was a huge cut on her cheek and ran down her neck that had been stitched up neatly but it was still going to scar. Both of her hands were wrapped in bandages, like a Halloween mummy, and a really ugly hospital gown on.

I rushed to her side and hugged her. I tried to be gentle but everything was too much and even though she was in hospital and probably hurting so much I cuddled her way too hard. And she cuddled me way to hard too and we lay in the hospital bed crying together. I couldn't stop and I don't think she could either; I just felt so relieved to see her safe-ish. Mom told me about how Uncle Jerry had attacked her with a meat cleaver, whatever that is, and cut off her fingers and sliced her eye open before she and Daddy could escape from the house. But she avoided literally all of my questions about where he was and where had Jack been while this was happening. She had no idea Jerry had hurt him and she was as mad as I was when I found out. I just wanted to know what was going on.

I was crying so much but I didn't know how. I had cried so much recently I was surprised that my eyes weren't swollen shut from where I was rubbing them. I was so sad because she thought she was ugly now but I thought she was still my beautiful mom even though she had a big cut over her left eye. She could always wear a fancy eyepatch if she didn't want a fake eye, right? I could make her loads and loads of pretty eyepatches to match all of her outfits. I mean, I'm so bad at sewing but I could always try.

"Why are you bleeding honey?" Mom asked and pulled my shirt to look at it.

I hoped that she wouldn't notice the blood or the bruises and stuff. I guessed that maybe because she had lost an eye she wouldn't see it. I didn't want to tell her about shooting Uncle Jerry or what he had tried to do and for some reason I didn't want to tell her about Mr Lowman and his friends either; I don't think she would be happy that I was hanging out with them.

"Mommy," I cried and scrubbed my hands over my tearful eyes, "he tried to rape me."

She gasped, covering her mouth with her bandaged hand and more tears fell from her eye then she grabbed me and hugged me again so tightly that I choked. I needed this I think. Mr Chibs is lovely and Mr Lowman is a really good friend but sometimes you just need your mom, you know?

"I shot him though Mom. I got him in the shoulder so he shouldn't be dead."

"You did what? You sh- Oh my girl! My brave, brave little girl!"

She called me brave. Me. Brave? I didn't shoot him because I was brave; I did it because I was terrified and I thought that he was going to hurt me and because I thought Mr Lowman was gone. I needed to shoot him otherwise I was going to be scarred for the rest of my life. But it did feel nice to be told that I was brave from her.

"I'm so sorry that happened to you," Mom whispered as she cradled my head against her shoulder, "that man needs to disappear."

I didn't know what to do so I just nodded again and curled up against her side. Why was she talking like some kind of mob boss on the tv? But I couldn't help agreeing with her. Uncle Jerry needed to be put in prison or something but I couldn't go to the cops without telling them that I shot him and then I would have to go in prison too.

"And I need you to do something for me Darling, ok? I need you to help Mommy while I'm in the hospital."

"Ok?"

"You know the alleyway behind the house? The one Jack uses to sneak out when he thinks we don't know?"

I nodded.

"My Land Rover is parked there. I need you to take it and destroy it. I don't care how you do it; I just want every piece of it gone."

"What? Mom, why? If you don't want it anymore you can just sell it! You know like we did with my car? I can talk to Mr Morrow."

"You need to stay _away_ from him Baby Girl. Clay Morrow is not a good man. Clay Morrow and his friends have _destroyed_ us-"

"No Mom!" I argued, standing up before folding my arms and shaking my head, "No they're good people and they helped me and Jack-"

I literally didn't mean to say anything about them. I felt my mouth open and closing as Mom realised where I had been all this time and she looked angry. Mom looked really angry and I was scared. The last time someone looked at me like that I shot him. I didn't want Mom to hate me. So I just started to kind of mutter random stuff and trying to back track over what I had just said but I could see Mom getting more and more angry.

"Just- Catherine, just do what I've asked you too, ok?" Mom sighed, sounding disappointed with me, "Please be a good girl for me and do what you're told. Get my car and make it so that there was nothing left, do you understand? Burn it down."

I just nodded stupidly then jumped when a quiet knock came from the door. I guessed it was time for more of Mom's meds and I went over to let the nurse in. But then when I opened it though I saw Mr Lowman stood there. I looked up at him confused but then I saw Mr Morrow stood behind him looking angry, like Mom kind of angry, and with his arms folded. Mom told me that Mr Morrow is not a good man.

"I need to go," Mr Lowman told me quietly.

"Oh."

I didn't want him to go. I wanted him to stay with me because I was literally so scared that I wanted to cry but then I guess I couldn't get him to come with me. I mean, what if I got caught? I wouldn't want Mr Lowman to get in trouble because of me. What I'm gonna do is illegal. I was gonna break the law and I didn't want to get Mr Lowman involved.

"Why?"

I didn't mean for my voice to shake like it did. I wanted to be strong like him but I couldn't stop it. Then he placed his hand on my head and ruffled my hair gently but all I could manage was a small smile.

"Club stuff," Mr Lowman said vaguely with a shrug.

"I'm gonna call Jack and tell him to take Romeo to the lounge. Theo has a room upstairs that I think he'll let us use."

"You're not coming back?" Mr Lowman asked frowning and stooping slightly over me.

"I have… something I need to do."

Mr Lowman nodded but he looked worried. When I behind him I could see Mr Morrow looking at me with narrowed eyes. Mr Morrow scared me a lot but I wasn't really sure why especially because he helped me at my house and let me and Jack stay with them over the past two days. Maybe it was because Mom told me he was a bad man.

"Here," Mr Lowman mumbled and rooted through his pockets to give me $20 but when I refused to take it he grabbed my wrist gently and put it in my hand, "for a cab or… whatever. Be safe."

"You too."

He patted my head again softly and looked at my hair for a second before nodding like he had decided something and turning away to follow Mr Morrow down the corridor. I watched them go and waved when Mr Lowman turned to look at me. He looked worried but I couldn't help looking at the way he walked. He looked kind of… attractive I guess. Like those guys at school that I was supposed to stay away from because they were bad and stuff but then everyone had a crush on them anyway. Maybe Mr Lowman was one of those boys in school too. I don't think I could imagine him in school. Whenever I thought of him in my head I always pictured him playing with Scrap and Romeo in his backyard on the day that I met his mom. I liked to think of him like that because he looked relaxed. He doesn't look relaxed very often.

I turned back into the room and closed the door behind me before going to one of the windows in Mom's room that I could see the parking lot from. I saw Mr Morrow first but then he was followed by Jax and Mr Lowman. Someone had brought Mr Lowman's motorcycle. I had never seen him on it before.

"Those men are bad news, Catherine."

I shook my head, "You don't know them Mom. They kept me safe."

I watched them disappear through the parking lot and down the road but I couldn't stop thinking about what I had to do and why. Why did Mom need me to get rid of her car? What had happened?

"Come on now," Mom whispered when I finally turned back to her, "come here."

I stepped closer to her and lay beside her on the bed again. She passed me her phone so I could call Jack and tell him to go to my work and wait for me there. I didn't tell him about what I was going to do or where I would be and I had literally no idea what time I would be back but I let him know that I _was_ going to be back. I told him to explain to Theo what happened about the house and if he couldn't help to talk to Kathy. They were the only people that I knew that might have been able to help us.

Mom stroked my hair with her bandaged hands, told me I was a good girl and hugged me but I wasn't sure if I was good anymore. I literally shot a guy and now I'm gonna go and cause criminal damage? That doesn't sound good to me.

"I'll wake you up when visiting times are over," Mom told me as she kissed my forehead, "just relax now. Go to sleep. I'll be here."

"I missed you Mommy," I whispered, "I missed you all this time."

"I haven't been there for you my darling, I know. I know and I'm sorry."

I curled up to her side, like I had done with Mr Chibs and squeezed my eyes shut as I hugged her tightly. She was looking after me for the first time and I was going to look after her too because I felt like I didn't have anyone else anymore. Then I knew to look after Mom I needed to do what she asked me to do without asking why. I just needed to help her however I could.

"I'm so sorry I haven't been there but that's going to change now, ok? From now on we're going to have to be there for each other."

I nodded.

(((((Splitting the story)))))

When I woke up there was a nurse shaking me awake. She was telling me that I needed to leave and let my mom get some rest. She was actually really rude about it too. Like, I'm my mom's kid. I should be allowed to stay however long I wanted to. Such a rude woman.

"I'll come see you tomorrow, ok? Maybe Jack will come too," I told her, "I'll bring him after work."

"Take my phone," Mom nodded and handed it to me, "and call the reception downstairs when you have sorted everything out."

I nodded to her, knowing what she meant, and kissed her cheek before running walking down the corridors towards the exit. It was kind of chilly outside and dark now but I guess that was a good thing, right? Because that's when you're supposed to do illegal stuff.

I know I had the $20 that Mr Lowman gave me but I knew that the house wasn't too far away and I could take a few short cuts too. I was kinda scared about being out in the dark on my own but I knew I would be ok. I was tough now. A badass, like Mr Chibs said.

"Hey little lady!" I heard someone shouting across the road but I just wrapped my arms around myself, "Oh don't go sweetheart we just wanna talk!"

I kept on walking and their speech was cut off suddenly. They left me alone at least. That was a bit scary but I had been spoken to like that before when I've been out and stuff, it wasn't anything new.

I made my way back to the house with my heart beating so fast and hard that I thought my ribs were going to explode. What if Uncle Jerry was still there? What if he was waiting for me? Did he know where the car was? I hoped not.

I found it easily though. Even though it was dark I could still see the car in the alley way. It didn't look like Mom's car though; it was all dirty and covered in dust with a pool of oil that had come from the trunk; I guess her extra can had fallen over or something. Weirdly, I felt calm now I was here. It was better in the dark when I knew no one would be able to see me. Jerry couldn't see me if he was even there. I hopped in the driver's side and reversed carefully out of the alley way. There was a light on in one of the upstairs windows. Jerry was still in the house.

I drove around for what felt like hours. I tried to decide where I was gonna go, what I was gonna do and how I was gonna get rid of this car. The only thing that i knew was that I needed to get out of this car. It stank like rot; like the smell of the steak that Jack left in the fridge too long when Mom and Daddy went on vacation and left me in charge. Even though all the windows were open it still smelled so bad.

On tv, people burned cars. They got gasoline and matches and burned the cars. I know it wouldn't all be gone but the seats and everything would be, right? And maybe I'll see it explode. That might be exciting. But where? Where would be the best place to burn it where people wouldn't see it? Then I thought of Daddy's building site outside of town. It was on a random piece of desert and had nothing around it other than like plants and stuff. I had only been there maybe twice but I think I knew the way.

Mom had matches in her glove box from when she had her sneaky cigarettes that she thought we didn't know about. There was a lot of things in my family that people didn't think I knew about but I do. I know lots of things about lots of things I just don't want to think about it because there's nicer things to think about than family secrets.

I know there was the oil can in the back but I would need more; it was a big car. I went to the gas station and got another one of those emergency cans and filled it with more gas using the money Mr Lowman had given me. I don't think I'll tell him what I used it for because he might be angry. He might call the police and I don't think I'm cut out for jail. I don't know how I was gonna get back from the building site without a car but I guess I was just gonna figure that out when I got to that part.

The building site was taped up with police tape across the gates. I just didn't think about it. I didn't think too hard about what had happened. I just drove through tape and into the lot where I saw all the destroyed buildings and the patches of blood where the night guards were killed and suddenly I felt sick and realised what exactly I was doing. I couldn't do it.

I couldn't do it.

I couldn't.

But I had too. I had to do this for mom and to keep her safe however I could. Just don't think about it, I thought to myself, just don't think about it and just do it. But even then I just sat at the wheel gripping it tightly and breathing heavily. I wished I wasn't alone. I really wished someone else was here to help me. I literally sat until I couldn't stand the smell anymore and I climbed out. My legs hurt, my back was painful and injury on my side was being pulled the more I moved. With one can at my feet I opened the trunk to get the other can. The leaking oil was sticky on my hands. The trunk is where the smell was coming from too; it was stronger from there.

But then I opened the trunk and my whole world fell apart and I started screaming and screaming and screaming. It was like I couldn't stop. I couldn't stop screaming.

The light inside had turned on when I opened the door. I hadn't seen it first because there was the blanket Mom kept in the trunk covering everything. I always thought that it was really pretty blanket. They had got it from Italy. When I peeled it back to look for the oil can I saw Daddy lying there pale and blue and purple. His eyes were open but he wasn't looking at me or anything. They were white and his mouth was open. And there was blood. There was so much blood. But even though I knew he was dead I put my forefinger and middle fingers over the place where his pulse would have been but it was nothing. He was cold. He was stone cold.

I stumbled over my feet and landed in the sand and when I looked at my hand I saw old blood covering my palms and fingers and it's like it didn't matter how many times I scrapped them on the sand or on my clothes I couldn't stop the feeling of it being there. It was cold and sticky.

It was like I couldn't look away. I could stop staring at him and the blood. All that blood.

I had seen blood before, obviously; you don't work as a first responder/paramedic in LA and not see blood or dead people but they were just people, you know? They were just random people who I didn't know. It was still sad but you could kind of distance yourself from it because you had a job to do and you needed to help the people who were still alive but this was so different. This was Daddy and there was no one else here but me. I guess I just needed to help myself.

I forced myself to uncover the rest of him because I needed to know what happened. When I moved the beautiful fabric away I saw the large patch of blood on his chest and the hole in his shirt that showed the huge wound in his chest and when I looked closer I saw that he had been stabbed loads of times in the chest and in the stomach.

I needed to call the police. I needed to call _someone_ and I thought maybe I should call Mr Chibs. I think he would know what to do but I didn't have his number. I didn't have anyone's numbers I realised. Mr Lowman just always showed up when I needed him. But he wasn't here now and I needed to do this on my own.

So I stood up and stumbled over to Daddy, bending over to kiss his forehead and ignoring the smell that came from him.

"I'm so sorry Daddy," I whispered, "I'm so so sorry about everything."

The can was so heavy now, and my hand was still sticky from the blood but I managed to ignore it. I was still crying when the gasoline splashed over Daddy and beaded onto the leather seats. My hands shook when I held the matches. I couldn't light them; my hands were too weak but I forced myself to concentrate and eventually I got one to catch. I wasn't really used to using them. I threw the match on Daddy, whispering goodbye to him and telling him I loved him as he started to burn.

I wasn't prepared for the smell of it though. All I could smell was the gasoline on my hands and what I guessed was burning flesh but as the flames caught I couldn't look away. They were beautiful and, even though I was scared and mourning my dad, as they rose up my heart started racing and I could feel adrenaline going through my body. I was excited as I looked at them.

My face was dry now and I wasn't crying anymore. I felt… relaxed; kind of like a release of all the stress I had felt for the past 2 days. It was like the relief fell out of my body through my legs though because they collapsed from under me and I sat back down on the dirt with my knees to my chest and watched the flames burn Daddy away before fully engulfing the car. I just couldn't look away.

 **AHHH OMYGODOHMYGOHMYGODOHMYGOD-** I want to thank you all for your continued patience with me! I know it's been forever and a day since I last updated but I hope it was a good enough chapter for you. I enjoyed it anyway.

Who do we think did it? How do we feel about Happy being all cute at the start? I personally loved it! How do we feel about Catherine protecting Happy from all the illegal things she was doing? And I think it's safe to say Catherine had adopted Chibs as her new dad!

Anyway! Let me know. Next chapter is almost done too!

Love From Your Ol' Pal Doe xxxxxxxxxxx


	13. Chapter 12 - Lost Cat

Chapter 12 – Lost Cat

Happy rolled his eyes for what felt like the millionth time since he got to work that morning. Juice would just not shut up about Catherine and, though he understood his friends obsession with her, he also needed help with logging the work the car had had done on the computer. Technology was never his particular area of expertise and he didn't know what to press to get the damn invoice to print off. He couldn't even handwrite it either because his writing was bordering on illegible.

"Have you seen her eyes?" Juice continued to gush, "They're like this crystal blue colour. Amazing. You know how much I love girls with blue eyes right? Just something about them, I don't know."

"Shut up," Happy huffed, resisting the urge to correct his friend, "and help me with this. What do I press?"

"How many times do I have to show you this, man? Look at that thing with the printer symbol on it- no that's new docu- fuck's sake. Give it here. I bet even Chibs will get this shit faster than you will."

"I heard that!" They heard Chibs call from the work bay.

They laughed as Happy tried to watch what Juice was doing on the computer. All the symbols looked the same and he had managed to press something to format the document properly so all the writing was on the right lines and in the borders. Happy would never understand why Clay didn't just get a receptionist or something to do it for them. Sometimes Gemma would be in to help and occasionally Viv but they both had their own stuff to do.

"Are you boys nearly done?" Chibs asked from where he was stood in the doorway wiping his hands on a rag, "Miss Hulme had been waiting forever."

"Dickhead over here messed up the invoice; I had to fix it."

Happy smacked Juice on the back of the head with a quiet tut but the other two just laughed as the printer started to spit out the piece of paper. There was gossip around the garage that the printer in the office was older than Jax but it was highly unlikely. However, from the choking, strained whining noise that came from it and how slowly it printed stuff out it was easy to believe.

"We really need a new printer," Juice sighed as the machine begged for death and Chibs hovered near it to catch the paper and Happy nodded in agreement.

There was a tense pause as the noise stopped and Chibs held his hand nervously over it, ready to catch the paper. All three men were holding their breath and had their eyes focused on the old printer.

"Ah ya bastard!" Chibs shouted in both anger and surprise as the invoice shot out; making all three of them jump, "I've got it Miss Hulme, here you go."

Chibs walked back out to the work bay and handed the lady the invoice to look over and sign. Miss Hulme was one of their best customers. She was an older woman with lots of money and a huge crush on Tig.

"You think Catherine would wanna work here?" Juice asked while he started printing out a second invoice for their files, "I think we'd get loads of new customers if she did. She know how to work computers?"

"Doubt it," Happy shrugged.

It wasn't that he didn't have faith in her or think she was stupid but… he imagined she'd get distracted easily and forget to do things. And she maybe she wouldn't really know how to use a computer; he didn't and he felt he was marginally more sensible than she was. Besides, if she worked there Happy wasn't sure he would be able to concentrate on his job if she worked with him; he would just want to sit with her all the time and just be with her. He was becoming a sap, he realised, and it needed to stop.

"You're probably right. Gemma's looking for a cleaning lady though, right? She could do that."

"She has a job."

"Pft! Working for that asshole in that fake fancy strip club? She's gotta hate it there."

"She's fancy," Happy stated, "she probably likes it."

Juice shrugged and they both jumped again when the second invoice was spat onto the floor. Grumbling, Happy went to pick it up when he was disturbed by the sound of a familiar voice shouting for Jax. All heads turned to the forecourt where Jack was stood holding Romeo and looking both worried and in pain. Jax jogged over to the teenager, put his hands on his shoulders and shook him slightly.

"What's going on?" Happy asked as he approached, the invoice forgotten.

"I don't know where she is," Jack all but sobbed to him and Jax, shaking his head and cuddling the little dog closer, "she's gone. I got a call to- she said to meet her at Theo's place but-" he shrugged hopelessly, "that was yesterday. I've not heard from her. What if Jerry- "

The boy was holding in tears but no one would have blamed him for crying. Chibs came wandering over with a very forced look of calmness on his face. Romeo was looking around happily and wiggling in Jack's arms to get to Happy. His fur was matted and messy too. Catherine wouldn't be happy about that.

"Where would she have gone?" Jax asked, "Did she say?"

Jack shook his head again and looked at them with wide blue eyes. Happy had expected them to be grey but then again Jack and Catherine looked nothing alike. He was breathing heavily like he had been running but then it dawned on everyone that he probably _had_ ran all the way from the centre of town to the garage in the midday California heat.

"She had something to do," Happy said slowly, trying to figure out what she had meant, "that's what she said."

"What though?" Jack demanded, rounding on Happy angrily although there was something of a theatrical way about how he was acting, "Did she say what or where she was going?"

Happy shook his head and raised his hands up to stop Jack from advancing any closer. Jack was the same height as Happy but built wider and looked strong, plus if Happy was to hit him he didn't imagine Catherine would be too pleased. If she was still alive.

The thought that something had happened to her made his stomach drop and his brain get hot and he wondered if perhaps that was how she felt when she was confused.

"She'll come home," Chibs said reassuringly but Happy couldn't help thinking that it sounded like he was talking about a lost cat, "have you got a number for her? Does she have a phone?"

"Yeah she's using Mom's but I've been calling it all day and it's going straight to voicemail."

Chibs stopped Happy from walking to his motorcycle with a stern shake of his head and tugged on the work shirt Happy wore. There was going to be no way that they were going to go and look for her when they were working. Jack was directed to sit in the bar and just wait because there was nothing else for any of them to do but try and not concentrate on the missing girl. Woman, Happy reminded himself, Catherine isn't a girl; she's a woman.

"Stop fretting," Chibs growled at Happy, annoyed with the anger that was coming off of him in waves, "she's fine."

"You don't know that," Happy sighed from under the hood of a car, hiding his face from his friend, "she might be dead."

"Don't say that."

There was dread in the Scotsman's voice which betrayed his calm tone from before. Happy knew what he was thinking because he was thinking the same thing. Catherine hadn't killed Jerry, only got him in the shoulder, and there hadn't been anyone stationed outside the house so he could be anywhere. She was safe when she was in the clubhouse with them but then as soon as she left he could have got her anytime. Happy had given her money for a cab back from the hospital but she may not have used it. Maybe she had used it and Jerry had just got her before she could get inside. What if she had been kidnapped by the cab driver?

He was getting stressed just thinking about it.

"She's fine," Chibs said again sternly from close beside him, "just act normal for the kid, ok?"

Happy looked behind him to see Jack walking over to them. He just looked back down into the car engine. It was a mess so he would be able to just ignore Jack and concentrate on his job. Happy had decided that he liked Jack even though he thought the kid was an asshole when they first met. Jack genuinely cared about his sister and it was nice to see.

"I'm sorry for coming to you guys," the boy said, "we just… don't _have_ anyone else; Mom's in hospital, Dad's de- missing somewhere and Uncle Jerry..."

"Hey, don't worry about it; we understand." Chibs was saying kindly and patted the kid on the shoulder, "It's tough moving somewhere new where you don't know anyone. We all went through it."

"Yeah but you had like… ready made friends."

And that was the moment that Happy realised that Catherine and Jack must have been so lonely the entire time that they were there. That's why she told him that he was her best friend; she didn't have anyone else. The thought made him feel sad but she had him now.

Catherine-

I was so tired and my eyes were dry and painful when I opened them. I was curled up on the armchair beside Mom's bed with a thin, scratchy blanket over me. Mom was awake and sipping her morning coffee and reading the newspaper with her one eye. She still looked so dignified and high-class even though she was in hospital. She looked literally so unbothered by anything that she may as well have been having breakfast in our villa in France. The one we used to have.

"Morning Mom," I said hoarsely.

"Good morning Honey. How are you?"

I shrugged. I didn't know how I was because I kind of didn't feel anything. I was just… meh. I know I should be maybe upset or angry or whatever but I just couldn't. After everything that happened in the past 3 or whatever days I just couldn't feel anything. I know there was something behind it, like, when a lot of the people we would go to in the ambulance had gone through something they would just be normal but then later on they would go crazy. I guess I had that to look forward too.

"Tired," I answered eventually.

Mom just nodded slightly, flipped the page over and sipped her coffee again. She hadn't looked at me this entire time. Whenever I had asked her about everything last night she just refused to answer me and told me to go to sleep because I was tired.

"Mrs Dillinger?" A soft voice said from the door way and I looked around to see Jax's girlfriend Tara stood in the doorway, "Good morning."

Mom finally looked up from her newspaper to look at her. Tara was wearing doctor clothes. I didn't know she was a doctor and I especially didn't know she was Mom's doctor.

"How are you feeling? Any better?"

"Yes thank you Doctor. Those painkillers work wonders!"

Tara smiled and walked in to check the charts on the end of Mom's bed. It was kind of awkward how quiet it was but there was nothing I could really say to either of them. Tara looked up at me and smiled politely then did a double take. I waved slightly then put my head on the back of the armchair and closed my eyes again. I felt so tired.

"Jax called me," Tara said and I opened my eyes again, "your brother's looking for you. He's worried."

Ugh. I forgot about Jack.

"He should be in school," I coughed, "where is he?"

"The garage. I think you should call him and tell him you're safe."

I sighed. She was right. Tara seemed like a _grown up_ grownup, you know? Like I'm an adult and stuff technically but Tara had everything together. I was kind of jealous honestly.

"Are you ok? You're breathing sounds off."

"Yeah, no, I'm fine. Just kinda sleepy."

But she was already coming over to me with her chest listening thing in her ears. She did a few tests like asking me to cough while she listened to my lungs but when I did it made me cough even more. Then she looked into my eyes with her little torch then she looked up my nose which was kind of weird. She hummed thoughtfully then Mom pointed to a little trashcan beside the chair and told her that I had thrown up too. I didn't even remember that. I didn't remember much of last night after I saw Daddy in the car.

"Where have you been, Cat?"

I looked at Mom, panicked, but she didn't say anything and I couldn't answer either. Obviously I couldn't tell her where I had been because she might tell the police or Mr Lowman and I wouldn't want either of those things to happen. When I didn't say anything for a while she just frowned in a kind of worried way but let the subject go. She said something about a chest x-ray or a blood test but I refused; mostly because I didn't have any money to pay for it.

"Just make sure you call the garage, ok? I think he's still there."

I nodded and she let Mom know she would be back some time later to give her some more medicine then left. I was left with Mom in an awkward silence. I hated it so much because it just made me realise how much I didn't know her. Like, Mom never really spoke to me after I stopped doing pageants and stuff and even less when we moved here. She was always at work or in the city or something and I never knew what she was doing and she didn't know what I was doing either. Could she really blame me for wanting to be around Mr Chibs and Mr Lowman? They were proper adults that helped me when I needed them which was _way_ more than what she had done in the two years since I stopped being a pageant girl.

"Well? Are you going to call your brother?"

"Oh. Yeah, I guess."

I pulled out Mom's phone from my pocket and found Jack's number from through all the other contacts in her phone and called him. He answered straight away and asked immediately where I was but I told him not to worry because I was with Mom. But then the phone sounded like it was being rattled around I heard Jack protesting.

"Hey- Wait-"

"Where are you?" I heard Mr Chibs say seriously, "We'll come and get you."

I couldn't help smiling at the worried tone in his voice. _Such_ a dad.

"I'm ok Mr Chibs, I'm at the hospital with Mom. I fell asleep, that's all," I told him.

"I'm coming to get you sweetheart, are you ok?"

There was more sounds of Jack arguing and some barking that would have come from Romeo and then I could hear footsteps. He called Mr Lowman over and told him where I was. It was kind of nice to hear that they were concerned even though they didn't need to be.

"No Mr Chibs, honestly!" I insisted, sitting up when I heard a car door opening, "I've got money for a cab and I need to go see Theo about work and stuff anyway. Can you please tell Jack to take Romeo back to Theo's place and go to school? I don't want him to miss anymore. He's clever, you know?"

He sighed and the speaker rattled.

"I'd prefer it if I picked you up."

"I'll come see you guys later, ok? I've just- I need to some stuff first. Like get changed. I promise I'll stop by and bring you food and we can have dinner."

There was silence then I heard the car door shutting again and more annoyed talking then Mr Lowman saying something. It was so hard to understand him over the phone but I think I kind of got the gist of it; he was angry that Mr Chibs wasn't coming to get me. I couldn't let them though, right? Like, if he came to get me then he would see how much of a mess I was and stuff and he would ask questions and I just don't think I could lie to him.

"As long as you're safe Catherine," Mr Chibs said finally, "that's all we care about."

Tears came to my dry eyes and made them sting. I clasped my hand over my mouth to silence a quiet cry that came out and I heard the car door opening again. I don't even know why I was crying, honestly. Maybe this was where I was having a breakdown now.

"I'm bringing Jack and coming to get you. Get in the car Kid, bring the dog. I'll see you soon Catherine… you're gonna be alright."

I think I know why I was crying. Mom sat in her bed, not talking or looking at me while I cried, but Mr Chibs only had to hear me cry once and he was already on his way over here. Mr Chibs was a better parent to me in like 3 days than Mom and Daddy had been my entire life. Like, yeah they had given me literally everything I had ever wanted but Mr Chibs was just… nice. He made me hot cocoa when I was cold and wet; and when I came back after… Jerry, he put me to bed and sang me to sleep when I couldn't. I wish he was my real dad. I wonder if maybe, since Daddy was gone now, Mr Chibs could adopt me.

I hung up the phone when he said goodbye and Mom looked at me. She promised me yesterday that she would look after me, that we would look after each other, but maybe she had forgotten that. It was like she hadn't just lost her husband and made me destroy his body.

"Who was that?" She asked like she would when I would be on the phone back at home, like I was talking to some bad people.

"Just Mr Chibs. He's gonna give me a ride to Theo's place so I can go to work."

She smiled at me then and I couldn't stop myself from smiling back at her. When she reached out her arm to me I stood on my aching legs and went to cuddle her. I know she was being weird right now and she wasn't telling me things but I just wanted her to love me, you know? Like, I just wanted her to be happy with me.

"Good girl," she said to me, "make lots of money today, ok? I promise I'm going to get all that money that Daddy stole from you back."

"Then can we go home?"

Mom sighed and kissed the side of my head firmly. I guess that was a no.

"I love you Catherine, remember that ok?"

I said nothing and left her room before going down to meet Mr Chibs outside but saw he was stood in the reception with his hands in his pockets. He looked really tall and always wore black. He would have looked scary if I didn't know him I think but I knew he was a kind man. I was about to wave but then I saw that he was talking to Tara and they looked serious but then I saw they saw me and they stopped talking. She walked away quickly with a small nod of her head and he patted her arm gently with a small smile. He had a really friendly smile. As soon as Tara left I skipped over to Mr Chibs and he immediately hugged me. It was the kind of hug you see dads give their kids on TV that was so tight and comforting and completely surrounded me. It was nice.

Mr Chibs held me by the shoulders and looked over me worriedly. More than Mom had looked at me all night and morning.

"Are you alright, Sweetheart?" He asked softly and touched my cheek.

"Fine," I nodded and smiled shakily, "Is jack at school?"

"He's not happy about it. Come on, there's someone in the car that is gonna be pleased to see you."

I frowned in confusion but then slipped my hand into his as he led me out of the hospital into the parking lot and pointed at a black car. At first I didn't know what he was pointing at then I saw a pair of pointy brown ears poke up at the bottom of the driver side window then Romeo's beautiful little face peering through.

"Oh my gosh! Romeo!" I laughed happily and ran to the car to get my boy.

The car doors beeped as Mr Chibs unlocked it. When I opened the door Romeo literally jumped into my arms and started licking my face and trying to get as close to me as possible. I felt so happy that I wanted to cry. I hugged him tightly and buried my face in his soft fur. He was so messy looking though! I hated him looking messy and tried desperately to straighten it out as quickly as possible.

"I can take you back to TM if you don't want to go to work-" Mr Chibs started saying but I cut him off with a laugh, "I'd rather you were-"

"Stop being _such_ a dad!" I laughed again as I hopped into the car, "I'm fine! I've gotta go back to work at some point, you know? I'm not making money if I'm not at work."

He looked like he wanted to be sad or angry but he smiled at me and patted my head before ruffling Romeo's ears.

We drove in silence. Kind of silence anyway because I was talking to Romeo about things that were going by and asking him if his uncle Jack had been good to him. Mr Chibs was laughing quietly as I spoke but didn't interrupt. It was a short drive but a nice one and talking to Romeo was distracting me from thinking about everything because if I stopped talking for one second I think I'd just break down. I didn't want to do that in front of Mr Chibs.

"Here we are. Last chance for having another day off," he offered.

"I'm gonna be fine, just tired, you know? I'll see what they have left after dinner tonight and bring some round for you guys ok?"

"Round where?"

"The garage."

When I looked back to him my face fell from the smile into another scowl; he was looking at me kind of patronisingly. Had I been stupid again? I didn't think I had.

"Did you used to think the teachers lived at school too, sweetheart?"

I blinked and tilted my head to the side, looking at him with a frown.

"We don't live at the garage, Catherine."

I guess I should have realised that. I looked down at my lap and tried to hide my light blush behind my tangled hair. I felt so stupid now but then he chuckled lightly and patted my forearm. I looked back up at him and smiled slightly.

"Here," Mr Chibs smiled and pulled out a scrap of paper and a pen before writing an address and phone number on it, "this is where we live. I'll ask Hap to come over as well, ok? He'll be happy to see you."

"He will?"

Mr Chibs nodded with a smile and handed me the paper. His writing was nice even though it was written in ballpoint pen on a crumpled up receipt. I nodded and looked over it a few times to try and remember it because I would probably lose it while I was working. I remember walking down his street when we first moved here and me and Romeo would explore for hours on end. It was in one of the nicer parts of town. Not as nice as where my house was though.

I said a quick goodbye to him and started to clamber out of the car with Romeo under my arm but when I looked back at him to wave he looked worried and sad again. With a small smile I sat back down and leant over to give him a quick kiss on the cheek and patted the hand that was on the gear stick.

"I'm gonna be ok," I reassured him with another nod, "I promise. Thanks for the ride."

He didn't look convinced but pressed his lips together so that they completely disappeared and he looked like he just had one big beard and it made me laugh. I think he would have been a really good dad; his little girl really missed out.

With a final wave, after shutting the door, I walked into work. I took a deep breath and hitched Romeo up higher so that his head was under my chin and cuddled him slightly harder. As soon as I was through the door I was attacked into a massive hug by Kathy who sounded like she was nearly in tears. I laughed and lied to her; telling her I was ok, just shaken up, and that I probably needed a new uniform and she hurried me upstairs where the spares were kept. There was a couch up there where I guess Jack would have slept and was actually used as a staff room during the day.

Theo was going to need to order me a new uniform because there was no way in heck I was going to go back to the house to try and get my own. I just told him mine got damaged in the wash or something. He was kind of annoyed but seemed to understand. He also let me have my wages a couple of days early because I told him I was desperate. He wasn't happy about that either but I guess looking like a homeless man made him realise I really needed it.

Working was actually a really good way to distract myself too. That was until Jack came in with his face all bloodied again and the whole of the past couple of days came back to me in waves. I hurriedly handed the guests their drinks and chased him through the dining room, dodging tables and guests and trying to keep the hair that had fallen from my bun out of my eyes.

"Jack wait!" I shouted as he disappeared into the kitchen, "Jack!"

Salvador the chef shouted something in Spanish and waved a big knife around then just went back to chopping and muttering under his breath as I continued to chase my brother through the kitchen.

"Jack stop my legs hurt! Why aren't you in school?"

"I'm not going there anymore!"

I finally grabbed his arm and turned him to look at me. His face had different cuts on it than it did before and that gash had opened up again. He had that face on like he did when Daddy would tell him off and I wondered if that was my job now. I wasn't ready to be a dad.

"You _need_ to go to school!" I shouted at him and stamped my foot, "You're clever! You're supposed to go. You can't stay here."

"Where am I gonna go Cat?! We can't live here in this strip club for the rest of our lives, and we are obviously not gonna go back home or to LA. So where?"

I sighed and shrugged. What was I supposed to say? How could I tell him that I didn't know? He was just a kid and I was his big sister and I didn't know what to do or say to him. Jack just huffed and turned to go up the stairs. Theo shouted at me to get back to work from across the kitchen. My head switched from looking between Theo and up the stairs where Jack had gone and I just wanted it to stop. Before I could decide which way I wanted to go Jack had charged back down the stairs with a small bundle of clothes in his hands and his rucksack. Had he gone back to the house?

"I'm going to a friends." Was all he said and barged passed me again, pushing me back against a wall and passed the food waiter's; causing someone to nearly drop his plates.

"Jack!" I shouted angrily but my brother just left out of the kitchen and back through the restaurant.

I sighed and rubbed my face. What was I supposed to do?

Theo shouted angrily at me to get back to work and I had literally no choice but to do what he said. I spent the rest of the shift worrying about Jack and not concentrating on my work. Luckily I was kind of good at my job already and didn't really have to think about it too much until the dancing girls came in. There was a couple of them, like Bambi, who said hi and waved at me from across the room. I watched them disappear into the changing room behind the stage thoughtfully. Then, I felt like crying when Kathy walked in for her shift at night which meant mine was finally over.

She hugged me tightly when she saw me and looked at me like Mr Chibs had done.

"What happened Cat?" She asked in a whisper, "Jack came in- he looked awful!"

"Just… family stuff, you know? You think we could talk about this another time? I need to go and meet some people."

Kathy nodded and I walked with her to the kitchen where I could ask Salvador if there were any leftovers. She caught me up on the drama that had happened over the past couple of days. Apparently two of the girls got into a huge fight on the stage in front of everyone about one of them stealing the others guy. I was shocked but it was also kind of regular thing. They were both new and were told to never come back so there was an opening for another couple of dancers. I knew what she was trying to get at and honestly I was starting to consider it.

The only thing that used to stop me from talking to Madame about dancing was Daddy and he wasn't here anymore.

"Where's Madame? Have you seen her today?" I ask Kathy and she clapped excitedly and squealed before pulling me back out to the restaurant area.

"Go," she hissed and pushed me towards the older lady.

Madame used to be a dancer too but stopped when she got too old. She was only 40ish though but apparently the guys only spend money on girls that are younger which is literally so weird because Madame is _beautiful_. She smiled warmly at me when I approached.

"Hey- um. Kathy said you have room for a dancer?" I asked, tightening my bun; knowing I looked like a literal mess right now and I don't look like the kind of girl she would hire to be a dancer, "And I was kind of wondering- I mean- I can dance kinda and I sing and play the piano-"

Madame laughed and held up her hands to stop me.

"Cat stop! Anyone can dance, you know this. Besides, I've had my eyes on you for a while now; I think you could do really well on stage. Those girls thought this was just _any_ kind of a club and I told them if they wanted to do that they could go to The Jellybean. You understand what kind of establishment I run here though so I don't think you'll be any trouble."

I nodded slowly, excited now. I hadn't been on stage in a long time and I missed the attention, honestly.

"Come in tomorrow night. We'll talk about it then."

I nodded again as she walked away and I turned to Kathy with a grin and she was doing small, excited jumps and clapping again before Theo sent her to do her job. I don't know what was up with him today, normally he let me and Kathy talk.

(((((split)))))

So, it turns out that Salvador had so much food left over from the evening time rush because they make everything on the menu first and then serve it after. The whole food side of it was weird and different to me because I was literally just a drinks waitress and know too much about the restaurant side of it.

"Can I take some of this?" I asked Salvador as he was tipping some leftover croutons in the trash, "If you're just gonna throw it anyway, you know?"

"Huh? Sure, why not? Call this my charity work for the week," Salvador laughed.

I laughed with him but mine was probably too high-pitched and quick. Never in my entire life have I ever been called a charity case and I was literally so offended but I didn't say anything, mainly through being scared of what he would say/do if I argued with him. I didn't need another Jerry situation, especially not at work. I needed to come back here.

He bagged up pretty much all the food because he literally couldn't bear to throw all his 'finely crafted' food in the trash. I wasn't sure how I was meant to carry it all to Mr Chibs' house or how we were supposed to eat it all. I guess he could keep some for the next few days if he wanted, and if Mr Lowman was there he could take some back with him. Besides, hopefully Jack would come back too; he could eat like a horse. I wish he was here now though because I wasn't going to be able to carry all of the bags and Romeo at the same time. Romeo was just going to have to walk I guess. I didn't want to waste my money on a cab.

When I arrived at the house I was literally so tired but I didn't even need to knock because the door was thrown open and Mr Chibs had come out and taken some of the food bags off of me. I didn't even notice the row of motorcycles lined up along his driveway until I halfway passed them. How many people were here? I thought it was just going to be Mr Chibs and maybe Mr Lowman, me and Jack if he ever turned up again. It's not the first time he had disappeared. Sometimes he would stay at whatever friend's house for days.

"Never seen you in your uniform," Mr Chibs said, interrupting my thoughts, with a warm smile in my direction, "you look cute."

"Thanks, Mr Chibs. It's not so bad, I've seen worse."

He laughed and led me into the house. Along the wall of the entryway there was loads of matching jackets of their club. In the living room and on the couch sat Mr Lowman, Mr Juice, the hairy man who's name I didn't know while the man that had saved Jack (Mr Tig?) and a blonde man I didn't recognise seemed to be fighting over who would sit in an armchair. When I was about to ask why everyone was here Mr Chibs told me that they heard there was free food and came straight over. I could see Mrs Chibs pottering around in the kitchen like she didn't have loads of biker men in her house; I'd be frantic about my floor and furniture getting dirty.

Romeo ran inside, yapping happily and wiggling at Mr Lowman who picked him up and turned to look at me over his shoulder. I waved as best I could with both of my hands full and he nodded seriously. Was he angry with me?

"Oh Cat!" Mrs Chibs exclaimed, wiping her hands on a towel, "How are you? I heard about what happened!"

"Yeah-" I said awkwardly, "yeah I'm fine."

"Filip said you had-"

"Food everyone!" Mr Chibs shouted, interrupting his not-wife with a small, pointed look at her and she looked mad.

All the men stood up and rushed over to Mr Chibs and grabbed the bags out of my hands. I gasped in surprise and stumbled back slightly but kept my cool. Romeo wiggled in Mr Lowman's arms when he walked over to the kitchen where the food was. He loved human food.

"What is all this stuff, Cat?" Mr Juice asked, beckoning me over to let them know.

"Oh, um… so… this is chicken paella, roast lamb ribs and stuff," I said pointing to the boxes containing potatoes and veggies, "tortilla Española, that's a mushroom risotto and this is just some starter stuff."

"Quiet night?" Mrs Chibs asked, helping herself to some lamb and potatoes.

I nodded.

I couldn't really do anything but hover around. Mr Lowman was eating paella out of the container while still holding Romeo, Mrs Chibs managed to get herself some lamb and stuff before the rest of the men got it all.

"Can we leave some for Catherine, boys?" She said, smacking Mr Juice's hand away with her fork.

"Oh! No, I'm ok. I'll just have whatever is left."

But Mr Lowman pulled a plate out of a cupboard and handed it to me, nudging it into my stomach when I didn't take it; making me grab the sides. He still hadn't said anything to me but he smiled so maybe I had been forgiven for whatever it was. There wasn't much food left after the guys had piled up their plates and I worried there wouldn't be enough for Jack when he came over let alone me. When Mr Lowman saw me hesitating and looking around at the empty containers he took some veggies and potatoes off of everyone's plates and putting them on mine then spooned some risotto next to them.

"Eat," he said with a nod and fed Romeo some chicken and a piece of lamb fat.

"Thanks…" I whispered, feeling kind of bad that I had food from everyone's plates but they didn't seem to mind, Mr Tig actually stood up from the chair and gestured for me to sit down so I smiled at him.

We ate in silence for a while, the only things anyone said was how nice the food was until I turned to Mr Tig. He was sat on the arm of the chair I was sat in.

"I don't- um… Mr Tig?" I asked nervously looking up at him and he looked down at me curiously, "I don't think I thanked you for helping Jack yesterday. It really means a lot, so… so thank you. If I can ever do anything to repay you please let me know."

Mr Tig's eyes softened and he put his hand on my shoulder, gently rubbed it while shaking his head.

"Nah, don't worry about it. My dad was err… he wasn't too good to me as a kid. I woulda wanted someone to help me too."

There was something about how he spoke that made my heart hurt. I guess he had been some stuff too. Maybe they all had. Maybe all of us in this room had been through stuff that hurt. I wiped my eyes when I thought of that and looked around at them all. Is that why they were friends? Did they not have anyone either?

"That's horrible, I'm sorry," I said to him, patting his hand, "but thank you anyway."

"So, you like me now?" He asked with a smirk and I nodded happily smiling back.

But then the hairy man just _had_ to ruin the moment.

"What about me? Do you like me yet?" he asked.

I whipped my head around to look at him and scowl.

"Obviously _not._ Why would I like you?"

The blonde man started laughing but I glared over at him before turning back to the other man and still scowling at him. I folded my arms while I waited for an answer. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Mr Lowman smiling while he ate.

"Is this another rhetorical question?" The Hairy Man asked with a laugh.

I still didn't know what this meant but I was angry and didn't care.

"So, one: you _grabbed_ me in that _disgusting_ little motel, and you shouted at me there too and I _hate_ being shouted at; _then_ you make my floor all dirty and started smoking in my room then you came here, where you weren't even invited _by the way_ , and stole all the risotto. It's literally the only thing I could eat. So no. No I do not like you."

I huffed and turned away from him, resting my head on Mr Tig's leg and scowling at nothing in particular. I wasn't even hungry anymore but I didn't feel bad for shouting at him. He shouldn't have been so horrible all the time. Mr Lowman was scary when I first met him but at least he didn't grab me like the other man did and he had never shouted at me either. I know I was sulking but I wasn't embarrassed. Just tired.

Happy/3rd Person POV

Catherine was perhaps the only person he had seen that still looked pretty even when she looked like shit. She still had cuts on her face and beneath the collar of her shirt he could see the bruises the Jerry had left on her neck and he knew that beneath her uniform there was a cut on her side and bruises on her arms and body, friction burns on her knees and elbows and things that Chibs had told him were signs of smoke inhalation. He also knew that somewhere on her head there was a clump of hair that had been ripped out. There were bags under her now closing eyes and she just looked ill. But still pretty all the same.

Tara had told Chibs she had smoke inhalation. Chibs had tried to keep it from Happy and only tell Jax but that was never going to work. As soon as Chibs had arrived back in TM Happy had been all over him, asking how she was, where she was, what she was doing and if she was ok then he no way not to let him know what was going on. It had taken everything in Happy's being to not go to her work and make sure she was ok himself.

"She's kind of a brat," Kozik said quietly when he caught Happy glaring at Tig who had Catherine resting her head on his thigh.

"Yeah," Happy smirked, "she is."

Kozik looked at him with a raised eyebrow and a small smile; showing he knew exactly why Happy liked it when she was like that and he didn't say anything to argue it. But then his attention was brought back to Catherine when Tig started to stroke the stray curls away from Catherine's face with a weirdly soft expression. When Catherine had first lay on him he looked like he was about to make some kind of remark about her being there but Chibs shot him a sharp glare and his mouth snapped shut again. That didn't stop Happy's jealousy though because, as with Jack at the clubhouse, he wanted to rip Tig away from her and sit there and put his hands through her hair but the Pomeranian sleeping on his lap was stopping him.

"Not your usual type," Kozik chuckled, "you asked her out?"

Happy scoffed and stroked the dogs head gently; making him sigh and shift.

"Why not?"

When he looked back up at his friend he wondered how he could tell him without Catherine overhearing everything. There were a lot of reasons that he wouldn't ask her out, mainly because he was scared that she would say no. She didn't feel anything for him, that much was clear; she still called him by his last name for god's sake, but also because he couldn't be sure how comfortable she would be with what he did for work. He just shrugged and cast his eyes back over to her. She had been through so much; he wasn't sure he wanted to put her through any more.

"You like her though, right? I know you, Man, more than anyone else in this room. Ask her out. Take her back home."

"She ain't got nowhere to go."

There was nothing Happy wanted more than to invite her to live with him and Mama until she was back on her feet but there was nowhere for her to sleep. Plus Mama would be beside herself and probably show Catherine all of his baby pictures and she really didn't need to see a baby Happy in the bath; it would probably scar him for life if she did. His mother had been pestering him since he was a teenager to bring a girl home so she could show a girl photos of him as a child but he never found anyone he liked enough to introduce to her. Catherine though… Catherine was different.

"At least introduce me," Kozik sighed in false annoyance and tapping his shoulder before standing up; causing the little dog to lift his head and look at him.

Happy still didn't want to put Romeo on the floor since he looked so sleepy so he settled him in the seat that Kozik had just vacated and stood up as well. Almost as if she knew Happy had moved, Catherine opened her eyes and fixed them on Kozik warily as he all but loomed over her.

"Catherine," Happy gestured between her and Kozik, "Kozik. Kozik, Catherine."

"Oh," Catherine mumbled almost incoherently, "it's nice to meet you."

She held out her hand to shake his but when she did Happy immediately clocked the burn marks on her fingertips and the bruises he already knew were there showed under the cuffs of her crisp white shirt.

"Herman Kozik," the blonde man clarified with a smile.

"German?" Catherine asked.

"No… _Herman_."

At first she looked confused; tilting her head to the side and narrowing her eyes at him but then she laughed happily. She pulled her hand back from him to cover her mouth while she did and sat up from Tig's leg and nobody could help smiling along with her, Happy included. He tucked his chin to his chest and let out a small laugh. It was good to see her genuinely smiling.

"Just wanted Hap to introduce me before I left," Kozik told her once her laughter had calmed to quiet, happy chuckles, "and thanks for the food."

"Oh, that's ok. Thanks for coming. You're nice."

Tig scoffed but Catherine didn't seem to be notice.

Catherine POV

I was beginning to think maybe I thought everyone was German. Maybe they were secretly although I don't know why they would keep it a secret. Either way, I liked him; he was _nice_ and I like him and he was a friend of Mr Lowman's and he had _mostly_ nice friends. Mr Tig was nice too and I forgave him for smoking in my bedroom because he helped Jack and he was there helping at the house when everything happened. The hairy man was there too though. Maybe I could forgive him one day. But not now though, it would just be embarrassing to say I didn't like him then now say I did.

"Hey, Cat?" Mrs Chibs asked, "Do you have anywhere to stay?"

"No Ma'am," I said, shaking my head at her.

I didn't know what I was going to do or where I was going to stay that had room for me and Jack and Romeo. I didn't have any money so I couldn't buy or even rent anywhere. I didn't have any friends and I think that if I asked Theo if we could stay at the lounge again I would get my head bitten off. I don't think he likes me anymore after Jack's misbehaving today so that was a no go. Then Kathy might have room for one of us but not all three.

"Stay here sweetheart. Do you have work tomorrow?"

"Yeah, all day. So like, breakfast and lunch and dinner and I literally have no idea how I'm going to get Jack to stay in school. He came in today looking like he'd been beat up and angry and I just- I didn't know what to do. What are you supposed to do with teenagers?"

I looked around at all the grown-ups but they all looked sort of awkward. Maybe they didn't know what to do with teenagers either. I shouldn't have to be doing this, was all I could think as I looked around confused and tired and sad. When I looked at Mr Lowman I saw him studying my left hand and I fiddled with my neck scarf. He was looking at my fingertips where I knew I had burns from the matches last night; after I couldn't look at Daddy anymore I just kept lighting matches and letting them burn until it hurt my fingers then I would throw them in the dirt. It was like I couldn't stop watching them.

Thankfully though, Mr Lowman didn't say anything about it and just looked at it suspiciously until he noticed me looking at him. I know my eyes were wide and shocked but he nodded at me to let me know he knew about them. I kind of wanted to tell him that maybe I was going to start dancing soon and all about my conversation with Madame but I didn't want to talk about it in front of Mr Chibs and their friends. That would be weird because they weren't my best friends. Mr Lowman was my best friend and I feel like I could tell him everything. Almost everything. Like, only legal things because I was no way going to tell him about what I had to do last night.

Suddenly, Mom's phone rang and I jumped and looked at it. It was Jack. I grabbed it off of Mr Chibs' coffee table and answered it.

"Jack?!" I asked frantically.

"Sorry Cat," I heard him whisper, "I didn't mean to get you in trouble today."

I looked around at the people looking at me before standing and looking for somewhere to go where I could talk in private. Mrs Chibs gestured to a door through the kitchen that I guess led to her backyard. It was dark now and kind of chilly.

"You didn't! Where are you Jack? Are you ok?"

"I'm at Aaron's house. You wanna talk to his mom?"

Before I could answer I heard him talking to someone and the phone being passed over to a lady.

"Hello? Is this Jack's sister?" The lady asked. She sounded older and kind.

"Yes? Who am I speaking too?"

"My name's Judith Lawson, I'm Aaron's mom. How are you doing?"

"Yeah- I'm- yeah. Is Jack ok? Where do you live? Where is he sleeping?"

"Don't worry, Cat!" Mrs Lawson laughed happily which just frustrated me, "I'm not letting them sleep in the same bed. We have a spare bedroom that Jack stays in when he comes over. I won't have any underage sex under my roof!"

I stared out into the dark yard in silence as my stomach dropped and my mouth went dry. I didn't know Jack had a boyfriend; he never said anything too me. I would like to think that he would have told me if anything exciting like that happened. Obviously not. And now there was this whole thing about him being sexually active just made me feel so stressed about being kind of a parent.

"Oh! Didn't you know? I'm so sorry if you didn't know he was gay I-"

"I knew. I just didn't know he was- are they- I mean… I didn't know he had a boyfriend. I've never met him. Jack never said anything."

"I'm sorry… it's just that he comes around a lot so I thought you would have known."

I already didn't like Mrs Lawson. She sounded patronising and like she was trying to make me feel bad about not knowing about Aaron but how was I supposed to when he never said anything? I mean, I hadn't even _seen_ my family since I started working 13 hours a day. Yesterday was the first day in a long time that I had even seen Mom.

"Can you put Jack back on the phone?" I asked, trying to hide that I didn't like her but I don't think it really worked.

More sounds and talking then Jack was on the phone. We were silent for ages and I sat down on the door step with a sigh.

"I'm really sorry Cat," he apologised again, "if you want you can meet him tomorrow. Like, come here and meet him and his family. You'll like them. It's like being back at home again. They have this big house and Aaron's really sweet. He's good to me."

"Where did you meet him?"

"Math class. He sits behind me."

That was really cute and I couldn't help smiling even if it was shaky and I was about to cry again. I didn't even know why anymore; I just couldn't stop crying right now. What had happened to my family? I know me and Jack were mean to each other but that doesn't mean we weren't close. We used to tell each other everything and Daddy used to let me have everything I wanted and when I was a kid Mom used to be sort of nice to me. We used to be kind of close.

"Are you ok though?" I asked him quietly.

"No," Jack admitted and started crying.

"Me neither."

We cried on the phone together for a while and I heard a kind voice talking to him and I guessed that was Aaron. He sounded nice at least.

I let him know that I was safe and that I was glad he was too but I needed to go because I had work early tomorrow. He had done his homework and everything but I told him to make sure he goes to school tomorrow and he promised me he would. All that I needed to do now was find somewhere to stay until I had money for an apartment or something because apparently Mrs Lawson was fine with Jack staying at hers until I found us somewhere or even until Jerry left the house.

I wondered if Jerry was still there now. It had been over 24 hours since I went to get Mom's car last night when he was still there. I wanted to go and see to maybe check if I had any clothes left that Jerry hadn't cut up. The thought of going made me feel sick though. I just wanted to go _home_.

As I hung up I felt someone come and sit beside me. I looked to my left and saw Mr Lowman looking down at me with a frown only to surprise me by wiping the tears off of my cheeks clumsily. Like maybe he had never done anything like that before. I smiled when he wiped his hands on his jeans.

"I'm ok," I told him with a small nod, "I promise."

He didn't look convinced but didn't push anything. I think maybe that's why I liked him so much; he never ever pushed me to talk about anything I didn't want to and sat with me until I felt better. I leant over and rested my head on his shoulder and he reached his arm over my lap and rubbed my leg comfortingly before resting his head on mine.

"I need clothes."

"Stores are closed now."

I shook my head and I think he realised what I meant.

"No. Not after last time." he said quietly and stopped rubbing my leg, "You can't go back."

"I'll be ok. I mean… I was last time right? After I shot him and Mr Chibs came in anyway. I just think there has to be some of my clothes left. I don't have money to buy anymore with and I need to get Romeo's leash and food bowl. And maybe Jerry's gone, you know? Maybe I could sleep in my own bed."

Mr Lowman sighed and stayed quiet for a while.

"I'll get your stuff. Stay here with your dad."

Then he stood up with one last pat of my knees. I looked up at him with wide eyes and watched him walking through the kitchen before scrambling to my feet and following him. I wonder if he meant to call Mr Chibs my dad or if it was an accident. He started talking to the nice man, Mr Kozik and Mr Chibs while the others listened. When he was finished talking, Mr Chibs rounded on me with his finger pointed at me like he was going to tell me off.

"You're not going," he said firmly as he walked towards me.

I folded my arms and scowled at him which just made him shake his finger again.

"Not after last time, no way in hell. Let Happy and Kozik go and grab whatever you need. You can stay here."

" _Daddy_!" I protested angrily and stamped my foot and pointed at the two men who were stood watching amused, "They don't know where they're going properly! And, _and_ what if something happens? Huh? What if- I can't- What if he _does_ something to them? I can't _lose_ anyone else!"

"You're not going. That's it. End of. No more arguments young lady."

I scoffed, folded my arms back over my chest and rolled my eyes. Didn't he understand I couldn't lose Mr Lowman like I had lost Daddy? I mean, I know they didn't know but still. Like, my fear should be enough. I also called Mr Chibs "Daddy" again. I need to stop doing that; he probably doesn't like it.

When I looked at Mr Lowman to plead with him to convince Mr Chibs to let me go he avoided my gaze, probably because the Scottish man was glaring at them both. I huffed again and leant against his kitchen side.

"Fine. But if Jerry kills Mr Lowman, it's _your_ fault," I said, trying and failing to keep the panic and worry out of my voice then looking away from them all.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Mr Chibs put his hands on his hips and sigh. I know I was being a brat and really annoying and stuff but I couldn't help it. I just really didn't want them to go, especially if it was without me. I didn't want anything to happen.

"We're big boys," Mr Kozik said, "we'll be fine. Right Hap?"

" _I said fine_!" I snapped and stormed back out into the backyard; slamming the door shut behind me and walking towards the lawn chairs to sit down.

I didn't want to see them go. I didn't want to think about them in that house just in case Jerry was there and they got hurt. I was just going to wait outside until they got back. There was a few minutes of silence then I heard two motorcycles starting up and going down the street then silence again.

Happy/3rd Person POV

"Shit," Kozik chuckled as they walked towards their bikes, "you ever end up with her you're gonna have your hands full."

Happy smirked again and climbed on his bike as he pulled on his gloves but he couldn't help thinking about the panic in her voice and in her eyes. What did she mean by anyone else? Who had she lost? Her housekeeper? Maybe she was talking about her mom. But she was worried about him. So much so that she would put herself back into danger and through all that again just so she knew he was alright; that had to count for something. She at least cared for him which was something he wasn't used to people outside of his friends and family.

Catherine _was_ his friend, Happy realised, she cared for him because he was her friend and it made him happy. She didn't know who he was or what he did; Catherine just saw him as a normal guy so she wouldn't have any idea that he could handle whatever it was Jerry would throw at him. That was why she was worried.

"Come on," he told Kozik and started his bike, "sooner we go, sooner she can stop panicking."

"She's got you already, hasn't she?"

Happy didn't reply, just backed his bike out of the line and started driving towards her house.

 **OHMYGODI'MREALLYSORRY –** this is a nothing sort of a chapter so I'm not entirely sure how I managed to stretch it to over 10,000 words. I have read and reread this so I think maybe all the mistakes have been ironed out but apologies if they haven't.

Stuff should start happening soon, I'm just getting everything lined up in my plan so it happens logically, you know?

Sorry again! Until next time,

Doe xxxxxx


	14. Chapter 13 - Mama Bear Mode

Chapter 13 – Mama Bear Mode

I've always been stubborn and even Greta would get frustrated with me. Even when Mr Chibs came outside with hot chocolate and a blanket to put around me I refused to talk to him. I kept my arms folded and didn't even look at him.

"Come on Catherine," Mr Chibs tried to reason with me, "it's getting cold. If you're not coming back inside at least put this 'round you."

He held out the blanket again and I huffed before turning my back to him but he obviously took that as me saying he could put it around my shoulders.

"Ha!" He exclaimed and threw it around me, hugging me as he did and sitting next to me on the reclined lawn chair.

"Mr Chibs!" I shouted with a laugh, "I'm trying to be angry with you! Stop!"

He chuckled but tucked my head under his chin and rubbed the top of my arms to warm me up. I guess I couldn't be angry with him; he was too nice and looked after me. When I had stopped squirming and actually let him hug me he picked up the cup of chocolate from the floor to pass to me. I tried really, really hard to be strong and not take it from him but he waved it under my nose and I just _had_ to have it. I grabbed it from him and took a sip. He made really good hot cocoa. With a sigh, I relaxed slightly but even Mr Chibs' hot chocolate making skills couldn't distract me from Mr Lowman going to the house to get my stuff. He shouldn't have to do that. It was my stuff.

Even though I knew how dangerous it was going to be, because Uncle Jerry had just literally turned crazy, I couldn't stop thinking that Mr Lowman would be looking through my stuff with Mr Kozik and would probably find like, tampons and my underwear and stuff. I think maybe he wouldn't be awkward about it. I mean, we are friends after all and I don't think he's the kind of person that cares about stuff like that. I hope. I don't want him to be embarrassed _and_ in danger. That's the worst combination of things.

"They're gonna be fine," Mr Chibs said as he patted my head gently, "stop worrying and come back inside."

"No. I'm… kinda embarrassed, actually. I shouldn't have shouted at you Mr Chibs and now all your friends are laughing at me and I slammed Mrs Chibs' door and-"

"No one's laughing at you, Sweetheart, and Viv couldn't care less about that door. Come on."

He tried to pull me up but I strained to make myself heavier which made him laugh but he didn't stop trying to drag me up. I laughed too because sometimes it was fun to annoy people and he didn't seem angry. Eventually though I had started to get way too cold because it was almost winter.

It was going to be my birthday soon, I realised as I slowly followed Mr Chibs back into his house, and I can bet that I wasn't going to have a fun party like I usually do. I mean, Daddy was gone, Mom was in the hospital, Jack was… I don't even know Jack now that he apparently isn't telling me anything. All my friends were back in LA and literally haven't spoken to me in months, on the internet or texting me or anything so they weren't going to come all this way just for my birthday. I wouldn't want them to come here anyway, especially now.

When we got inside I tried to avoid looking at everyone but Mr Tig came over and touched my cheek, making me look at him, and smiled down at me. His nose wrinkled and he looked really cute. He had really blue eyes that reminded me of Daddy's and it made me sad. I gave him a small smile but it fell really quickly because all I could think about was Daddy and how much pain he must have been in before he died. I wondered if he was alone or was Mom there? Was Jerry there? Did Daddy feel scared or did he not feel anything?

I was making myself sad now. I felt my lips wobbling and turn down at the corners as I looked at Mr Tig and he stopped smiling. I stepped forwards and put my head on his chest, wrapped my arms around his waist and hugged him. I think Mr Tig looked like he needed a hug too. I couldn't stop myself from crying and he froze for a second before putting his arms around me really tightly and hugging me back. He put his cheek on my head and stroked the back of my head. Maybe Mr Tig could be my dad too. Maybe all of Mr Chibs' friends could be my dad's. Not the hairy man though. I didn't want him to be my dad.

"Hey," he said with a small laugh, "hey, they're gonna be ok. Come on, you know Hap."

But I wasn't crying about them. I couldn't tell anyone what I was crying about like, ever. I couldn't even tell Jack. I just put my face in Mr Tig's t-shirt and cried quietly while he swayed me from side to side.

I missed Daddy even though he wasn't the same as when we were in LA. But neither was I. I know I had changed since we moved and maybe that's why Jack didn't tell me anything anymore.

Was this me having that breakdown I was expecting?

Probably not. I bet it was going to be way more dramatic than just crying into a strange man's t-shirt. Like maybe I was going to set something else on fire. I kind of wanted to do that and I did have some matches left from the car in my apron pocket; I kept fiddling with the box all day.

"Here, Cat," I heard Mrs Chibs say quietly, "I don't usually wear pyjamas, more of a t-shirt and no pants kind of a girl, but Filip is an old man and loves them." And Mr Chibs tutted like he was annoyed but I don't think he was serious.

I turned my head to look at her. She was smiling at me and holding out some folded clothes that looked like a hoodie and some funny looking plaid pants. Or were they tartan? He is Scottish after all. Mr Chibs does look like the kind of guy that wears old man pyjamas, she was right. Slowly, I reached out the hand that wasn't holding the cup of chocolate and slowly took the stuff from her. Mrs Chibs was a nice lady.

Mr Tig ruffled my already tangled hair and pushed me back slightly. He touched my cheek again gently then turned to sit back with his friends. They were looking at me kind of sadly except for Mr Juice who was kind of smiling at me but that also might have been because he was holding Romeo.

I nodded silently then looked around for somewhere to change. Mr Chibs told me that their bathroom was upstairs and that I could have a shower if I needed one but I don't think I was that dirty so I would just change. The clothes were way too big for me. Like… they basically drowned me; the pants dragged on the floor as I walked and the sleeves of the sweater pretty much hung down to my knees. I folded my uniform with my sweater paws and then made my way back downstairs but I almost tripped about a million times on my way down.

When I went back into the living room Mrs Chibs gasped and went "aww!" which was kind of patronising because I'm gonna be 24 soon but I did feel kind of cute.

"Ah Catherine," Mr Chibs said with a laugh, "come and sit here."

I sat on the couch between Mr Tig and Mr Juice while Mr Chibs knelt down and started to roll up the pant legs for me. Daddy never did anything like this for me; he always made Greta do it.

Then I just sat and waited on their squashy couch with my knees pulled to my chest and hugging them. I'm not a religious person, although Mom and Greta are, but I was praying to whoever was listening that Mr Lowman and Mr Kozik would be ok while their friends talked and laughed and joked. I didn't know how though. Weren't they worried?

"I'm gonna head off," The hairy man said, "let me know when they're back."

Mr Tig and Mr Juice stood, nodding. They were all going to leave when their friends had just gone into the most dangerous house in the world? Mr Juice reluctantly handed me back Romeo and brushed the long brown fur off of his jeans. Romeo was sleeping and just kind of curled up against my stomach, he had been through so much since we moved here too. I wondered how he felt about it.

Everyone said goodbye and then it was just me and Romeo on the couch with Mr Chibs sat on the armchair and Mrs Chibs was washing up in the kitchen. I felt like I should have offered to help her but I also couldn't do anything but worry.

Then, just as I was falling asleep against Romeo's fur, I heard a motorcycle or two coming closer and I gasped. They had been so long I was beginning to think they weren't coming back. Romeo jumped up, barking, while I rushed to their front door; opening it quickly so that Romeo ran out to meet the two men. I smiled and waved before I registered that Mr Lowman was covered in blood. It was down the front of his white t-shirt and down the left leg of his jeans.

"Mr Chibs!" I shouted, "He's hurt!"

I didn't even feel the hard gravel on my bare feet as I ran across the driveway to him. When he stood up from his bike, I thought maybe the blood wasn't his, maybe it was Jerry's, maybe he hadn't been hurt because of me but the closer I got the clearer it was to see the dark, wet patches on his stomach and left shoulder. Across his chest I saw a dark strap that I recognised as a gym bag I owned. He had got my stuff even though he was hurt.

Mr Lowman looked at me and tried to say something but he had lost a lot of blood and just ended up mumbling something.

"No," I said gently, taking his arm and letting him lean on me, "you can talk later, ok?"

Mr Chibs came to the door and swore under his breath before shouting to his wife to go upstairs with Romeo. I wondered why but then when Mrs Chibs came to the door she looked like she was going to be sick. I guess she wasn't good with blood.

"Can you make it up the steps?" I whispered, trying not to cry, "Come on Mr Lowman, please. I can't carry you up."

Mr Chibs took his other arm and basically dragged him into the house.

"He's going into hypovolemic shock," I told Mr Chibs as we helped Mr Lowman lie down on the couch so I could check his pulse; it was fast but weak, "we need to do something."

"Kozik! Get the kit from under the sink, some scissors too."

Mr Lowman's breathing was fast and shallow and he was so pale. I had seen this before.

Mr Kozik came back and passed the stuff to Mr Chibs who just gestured to me, as if saying I was in charge. I was glad because if I wasn't doing something I would be crying. It was like when I was in the ambulance, and with the car, I just needed to do it without thinking. Just don't think about it, I kept telling myself.

I took the scissors and immediately cut the strap of the gym bag and threw it up over the back of the couch to the floor then started to cut down the middle of his t-shirt, going from the bottom up to his neck so I could see what his wound looked like.

"If you don't want this to be cut," I told Mr Lowman, pointing to his leather thing, "you're gonna have to be tough and take it off."

He nodded and struggled to sit up, with help from his friends, as I shoved the sleeves up over my elbows and pulled on some latex gloves. Mr Chibs' med-kit was nothing like I had ever seen in someone's home before. There were syringes and vials of different things that I recognised as an anaesthetic and an antiseptic. I decided I would ask how he got all this stuff later because you can't just go to the pharmacy and get it.

With the coat thing gone, I could cut up his sleeve to look at his shoulder. It was bad. It looked like he had been stabbed twice; once on the left side of his stomach and again in his shoulder. The one on his shoulder looked like it was angled down so he would have been bent over maybe from being hurt in the stomach. His shoulder one wasn't bleeding as bad as his stomach so I would mend that one last.

Mr Chibs was talking to him, making sure he didn't pass out, as I pressed onto the stab wound. Mr Lowman hissed and grabbed my wrist so hard that it hurt. I just gritted my teeth, trying to ignore that he was gonna break my wrist, because I knew that he didn't mean to do it. I just carried on doing what I needed to do because the more I looked at his face, and how panicked he looked and how much pain I was causing him, the more I felt like I was going to cry.

Silently, I worked over his stomach; putting anaesthetic around the wound so he would at least stop being in as much pain as I sewed his skin back together. I did try to match the tattoos but it was difficult and I don't think I did a very good job but he wasn't bleeding anymore. His breathing had calmed down which made it a lot easier to make the stitches and would make him feel better at least.

"Mr Chibs? Can you start on his shoulder? I'll wrap him up."

Mr Chibs nodded, turning from where he was watching me do the stitches.

"You're left handed," he told me even though I knew already.

I just nodded and covered the now neatly closed up wound with a bandage.

"Ok. Get him up," I instructed and pointed at Mr Kozik, "and put him in the car. He needs to go to hospital."

They started to argue, Mr Lowman included, that there wasn't any point because he was patched up and everything but I refused to take no for an answer. I _knew_ things like this. I didn't know much about anything but I knew about people being hurt and what they needed and Mr Lowman needed to go to a hospital.

"Get him in the car," I demanded, and walked to the front door, "and get him to the hospital. You've lost a lot of blood, I don't know how much, and if you have lost too much you're going to need a transfusion. We stopped the bleeding and that's in. Get." I opened the door and pointed outside, "In. The. Car."

Mr Chibs sighed then gestured to Mr Kozik and then they pulled Mr Lowman up under the arms to help him outside. He shouted up to his wife to call Mr Morrow, for some reason, and that we were going to the hospital. Why Mr Morrow had to come I had no idea but there was no time to argue but if my boss came to the hospital with me I'd be really annoyed.

Mr Kozik gave me the keys. Was I going to be driving? Apparently I was because Mr Chibs helped Mr Lowman into the back seat then sat beside him. I hadn't driven a car in a really long time and I might have forgotten how to do it. I mean I wouldn't obviously. I hopped into the driver's seat and pulled the seat all the way forwards so I could reach the peddles. There wasn't any time to move anything else but I think because it was late at night there wouldn't be too many people around at this time.

Motorcycles started following behind the car as I sped through the streets, dodging around cars on the road swiftly, towards the hospital. I was hoping that because this was a tiny town they wouldn't have any working speed cameras. I really couldn't afford a speeding ticket anymore. Then when I approached the parking lot it was like a whole army had followed me in.

"Get inside, get a gurney," I told Mr Kozik, "Mr Chibs I think your friends are here, one of them can help you get Mr Lowman inside and get him checked in."

"Sweetheart, Hap can't afford any of this stuff…"

"I'll figure it out."

He looked at me with a frown but started helping Mr Lowman out. He was looking really, really bad. Like, so pale and bleary he couldn't even stand anymore. I couldn't think about him right now. I needed to think about what I needed to do for him first, then I'll worry about him when I have the time. So, just like everything else right now, I ignored it and pushed it away from my brain.

I hadn't even realised that I wasn't wearing shoes until I felt sharp rocks in the bottom of my feet but I had no choice but to walk across the concrete until I got to the doors when I could dust the pebbles off of my feet before walking in. The hospital floor was cold but I forgot all about that when I saw Mr Lowman being wheeled away by some nurses, looking almost as pale as the sheets with dark red blood over his jeans.

"What the fuck are you thinking?" I was asked and when I turned to look at the voice I saw Mr Morrow glaring at me, "You can't just-"

"He was going to die," I told him in the voice that sounded scarily like the one Mom had used when she told me to get rid of her car, "it was this or he died."

Mr Morrow stood up from his chair and started walking towards me but I was too tired to be scared or anything, I just wanted him to stop talking to me and sit back down.

"And who's gonna pay for all this crap? You?"

"No," I scoffed, crossing my arms and turning to face him fully, "but maybe _you_ can. You stole all of Daddy's money and I don't think you could have spent over $100,000 on tacky metal rings and bad clothing choices. Even after like 5 months."

He looked almost shocked. Good. I'm blonde, and small, and dumb but I was also so fed up of everything that had happened since moving here so I was gonna fight this man because I don't know who exactly he thought he was or who he thought he was talking too. I had already shot a man, seen my own dad dead and set fire to the car. At this point I feel like I could do anything.

"I'm not pay-"

"You _will_ pay!" I shouted at him, making all of Mr Lowman's friends look at me in shock, "And you will pay it now because I'm not going to go to his mom and tell him that he's gone because you," I jabbed him in the chest and glared up at him through narrow eyes, "refused to pay for him even though you _clearly_ have money. Don't you even have health insurance for your staff?!"

He was staring at me.

"Well?! Pay the nice lady!"

"I don't have my wallet," Mr Morrow said almost smugly.

We were stood almost nose to nose now. I wasn't afraid of him. I huffed again, rolling my eyes, and walking towards where I knew Mom's room is. Mr Chibs shouted after me but I ignored him, with my mind racing, as I went through the same doors Mr Lowman was taken through; leaving all of them behind me.

Mom's room was dark but that didn't mean she was sleeping. I crept in, whispering her name but got no reply. Her purse was on the chair I had slept in the last night. She _always_ had Daddy's credit cards because she didn't trust him with money after he made the deal with Mr Morrow and everything. And I knew all of Daddy's information because he would give me his credit card when I was sad and I could just go and buy whatever I wanted. I found the card and slid it in the pocket of my borrowed hoodie. When I turned to look at Mom, I jumped and gasped. She was facing me, lying down, looking at me with her one eye shining in the lights from the hall. Guess she was awake after all. She didn't say anything, just watched me put her wallet back in her bag, and I didn't say anything either. I just nodded at her and left her room; closing the door behind me.

I didn't feel bad. Mom wasn't a parent. Mr Chibs was a way better parent than Mom ever wanted to be. I don't think Mr Chibs would have forced me into pageants when I was a kid and I bet he would have been proud of me for working in the ambulance instead of ignoring everything I had done. Mr Chibs wouldn't have called me a good girl and then made me do something horrible.

When I reappeared in the ER I noticed all of the men sat around in their matching outfits. It was literally so weird that they wore them even when they weren't meeting up. I mean, I liked my cheerleading uniform but I wouldn't wear it outside of practise. It was just… sad.

"Catherine," Mr Chibs said when he saw me, "you need to sit down."

But I shook my head and went to the desk to talk to the pretty receptionist; interrupting Mr Tig's attempts at flirting with her. She actually looked relieved as she smiled at me but I didn't have the strength to smile back.

"How much for Mr Lowman's procedures?" I asked her.

"Oh let me check for you…" she clicked around on the computer and tapped her fingers on the keyboard, "well, he's needing 2 units of blood and Dr Howe wants to keep him in for at least 5 days to keep an eye on everything so… that'll be $10,519 all together."

Mr Tig winced and made a noise that suggested he had never paid that much for anything but that used to be literally just a weeks worth of like, shoes and clothes and stuff for me. I nodded and pulled the card out of my pocket and gave it to her.

"What's that?" Mr Chibs asked from behind me, "Isn't your dad goin' to be mad?"

"Doesn't matter anymore," I shrugged and signed the form and paperwork the lady needed me too, "he won't mind."

Because he's dead.

"And besides, I'm sure Mr Morrow could pay me back."

"I'm not paying you back," Mr Morrow scoffed, "

I rolled my eyes and turned to look at him, folding my arms over my chest and jutted my hip out to the side. Mr Morrow wasn't used to LA girls, obviously, and he obviously didn't know how annoying I could be to get what I wanted. I pursed my lips and glared at him through narrow eyes before walking over to him, prodding him in the stomach with my broken nail; making him take a step back.

"I don't know who you are," I said quietly, "or why you think I should do what you say, but I'm so over being told what to do. Mr Lowman is your employee, and maybe your friend I don't know, and he's a kind, good man who deserves friends that will help him when he needs it. I know he doesn't have much money, I've been to his house and met his mom, but neither do I, thanks to you. If it wasn't for you, Mr Morrow, Mr Lowman would be in the top private hospital in this area, with the best doctors and nurses and medical care money could buy. But he's here. With you, refusing to use Daddy's money to pay for him to get better."

Mr Morrow looked at me, shocked, and said nothing. Perfect. When men didn't say anything after you have argued with them it means you're winning.

"So, whatever money you saved not buying things for your stupid bike and weird club thing that doesn't make sense you can use to pay for Mr Lowman's medical bills-"

"Catherine!" I heard Mom shout sharply, "Get away from those men! What have I told you?!"

When I looked over to where she was stood I felt ill. She looked so scary all wrapped in bandages and her eye now covered with a smaller bandage than yesterday but her hands were still wrapped like a mummy with weird gaps where her fingers should be. She was wearing a shawl over her shoulders and her hair was still in a neat blonde bun like it always was. I wonder how she did it with her hands like that.

"Now, be a good girl and come here. Daddy won't be happy that you took his card. Come on. Be a good girl."

I don't think I had ever felt angrier in my entire life. My brain was hot but not like when I was confused or whatever, my whole body was hot and I didn't feel like crying.

"What Daddy wanted doesn't matter anymore, does it Mom?" I asked her through clenched teeth, "He's not gonna care what I do now."

"Stop it Catherine!" Mom scolded like she used too when I was a child, "Stop that, now! And come here, we can talk about this..."

I started to walk over until I realised what I was doing and stopped, tilting my head up, squaring my shoulders and turning around. She kept shouting at me, telling me I was being bad and behaving just like Jack until I heard a nurse telling her she needed to go back to her room. I walked away from her, outside into the parking lot, with my hand wrapped around the matchbox so tightly the corners hurt my palm. I needed to do something. I was angry and tense and stressed and remembering how I felt watching the fire just made me need to do it. Mr Chibs tried to stop me, to grab my arm and keep me inside but I shook him off and kept going.

My feet didn't hurt anymore and I wasn't cold even though I was only wearing pyjama pants and a sweater. I guess being angry keeps you warm. I couldn't think about anything but the fire. I needed to set something on fire. I fiddled with the match box as I walked into town and pulled the hood up over my head and covered my hair before opening it up. There was three left. Three fires. Three trash cans along the sidewalk and nobody around. That's gotta be fate.

I struck the first match and threw it into the first trash can as I passed it, then the second and then the third before throwing the match box in with it before turning to look at the three fires beginning to take. It was exciting and calming and everything I needed right now. I couldn't get caught though because then people would know but I couldn't leave the flames. I needed to watch them for a little while longer. Then, as I hid myself in the dark doorway of a store and the fires got bigger and more thrilling, I heard sirens. The fire people were coming. I don't think they could see me in the dark but I could see them. Somehow seeing how they had to put the fires out and heard them shouting at each other in panicky voices added to the excitement and seeing the gathering crowd of Charming residents looking worried and talking about why someone would do something like that was even better. I loved it and wanted to do it all over again. But I couldn't.

Then once enough of a crowd had gathered I could sneak away from the fires so no one would know it was me. I felt a wave of calmness wash over me as soon as I was out of the crowd and away from everyone. I needed to get more matches. Or a lighter. Or something. I needed to do it again soon.

 **Happy/3** **rd** **Person POV**

(Earlier)

 _Kozik followed Happy closely as they drove through the rich streets of Charming, marvelling at the large houses until they pulled up to the only one with all the lights out and a smashed out front door. It was eerie to say the least. There was no doubt that if Jerry was in the house he would have heard the sound of two Harley's pulling up outside. Happy pulled his gun and Kozik followed suit; knowing that when Happy was on edge something was really going down._

 _Happy led the way into the house slowly creeping over the broken glass and looking around the large, dark, empty space that was the entryway into the house. He led Kozik up to Catherine's bedroom where he imagined the rest of her clothes were. The tatters of the clothes that had been cut still littered the floor of the hall but it was too dark to make anything out._

" _Hap?" Kozik hissed, "There's someone in there."_

 _They peered into her bedroom in a way that would have been comical if they weren't concentrating on not getting their eyes cut out and their fingers chopped off. On top of Catherine's large bed, under the canopy and surrounded by strips of clothing was Jerry. He was lying on his side with his back to the door. He was lying too still._

" _Don't fucking move," Happy growled and walked in, keeping his gun pointed to the man who started to laugh quietly._

" _Catherine's friend I presume," Jerry laughed, "you didn't sound too happy last time you were here. Shouting through the door like a pathetic-"_

 _Happy interrupted him by walking forwards and kicking the man in the back so hard he coughed and groaned before rolling onto his stomach. That gave Happy some satisfaction. Kozik flicked the light switch so they could see how bad the damage in her bedroom was. It was worse than the last time Happy had seen it. Her piano wasn't just destroyed anymore; it was in pieces. There were keys littering the floor and it made Happy feel both sad and angry at the same time because Catherine loved her piano. She was good at it and she normally felt like she wasn't good at anything._

" _You're a piece of shit," Kozik said in a disgusted voice, "I heard what you did. You wanna search for her stuff? I'll keep my gun on this dickhead."_

 _Happy nodded and went over to the chest of drawers and wardrobe to see if there was anything left. Jerry seemed to have cut up all the nice clothes but left most of what would be considered casual to them. He grabbed a gym bag that was on top of the wardrobe and started to throw as much stuff as he could inside it. Jerry was talking but Happy wasn't listening. There wasn't much underwear left but there was enough to last her a few days at least and some socks; they could always buy her more if she needed it._

" _What else did she need?" Kozik asked him as Jerry struggled to sit up._

 _When he did, they could see the pool of blood staining the silk sheets. The shot must have hit some kind of main vein or something because he was pale and looked like he would die anytime soon. His hands were torn up from where he had obviously hit through the glass of the French doors on the balcony._

" _Stuff for the dog," Happy told his friend, "bowl and shit."_

 _Kozik nodded once and they made their way out of the room, keeping their guns trained on the weak man on the bed, and down the stairs. Happy had never been anywhere except for her bedroom so they searched around the downstairs. One of the doors he opened was to what looked like an office but it was covered in blood. The desk and papers on it, the armchairs by the fireplace and the bookshelves on the walls. It looked like a murder scene._

 _The next room was a large dining room that led into a living room, both of which looked untouched; almost like a showroom house. On the opposite side of the house they found the kitchen which also looked like an Ikea showroom. Beside the door that led to the backyard were two small, empty, porcelain bowls. Scrap just ate out of cheap metal ones but this was Catherine. Obviously she would buy expensive stuff just for her dog to eat and drink from. Hung up above that was a simple grey leash. He was expecting something unreasonable sparkly and covered in rhinestones._

 _He shoved the stuff in the bag and went through to the entryway of the house to tell Kozik they could leave but as soon as he walked through the door he felt some one punching him in the stomach. He doubled over, coughing, and grabbed onto the door frame with his free hand and covering his stomach with the hand that held the bag. When he looked up he saw Jerry standing weakly in front of him and going to punch him again but then when he looked properly he noticed the knife in his hand while at the same time registering that he was warm and wet. Blood._

" _Kozik!" Happy shouted, letting go of the door frame to reach for his gun but he was too late and he got stabbed again, this time in the shoulder before Jerry finally fell to the ground, exhausted and breathing heavily._

 _Kozik appeared out of the office room to look at his friend with wide eyes. He swore before rushing forwards and putting Happy's arm around his shoulder to help him stand. Happy could walk fine and guessed that he would be able to ride the short distance to Chibs' house where he was sure Catherine would be frantic when she saw him. There was no hiding the blood on his white t-shirt. Stiffly, he swung his leg over the motorcycle and the gym bag across his shoulders and set off. They should have shot Jerry while he was down but they were too focused on getting out of the house to even think of that at the time. Happy wondered if that would come back to bite them in the future._

 _When they pulled up outside of their friend's house they saw the other motorcycles, except for Chibs', were gone. They cut their engines and almost immediately the door was thrown open to reveal Catherine looking as worried as he thought she would wearing a SAMCRO jumper with the sleeves rolled up and baggy pyjama trousers with the legs turned up around her ankles. She looked cute. But when she finally saw the blood now staining the entire front and left side of his shirt and bleeding onto his jeans she gasped._

Happy remembered being helped into the house and being put on the couch and from there not much. He did, however, very clearly remember that Catherine's hoodie wasn't zipped up all the way so he could see her cleavage and bra while she leant over him to cut his t-shirt. As far as fantasies go, that was a good one even if it did sound like something he would have dreamt about when he was 13. He was almost positive that if the blood hadn't been pouring from is body it would have been rushing somewhere else.

An hour or so later, there was a knock at the door and when it opened he saw all of his friends pouring into the room cheering and greeting him. But someone was missing. Catherine was nowhere to be seen.

"Hey!" Juice greeted, patting him on his good shoulder, "How d'ya feel?"

"Like shit," Happy grumbled, raising his arms to show them the numerous tubes.

"Catherine is gonna drop by later," Chibs said when he caught Happy looking through the faces, "she's gonna buy you some flowers. Act happy about it."

No one had ever bought him flowers before.

"Yeah man!" Tig laughed, "Did you hear about when they brought you in? She went full blown mama bear mode to get you here and when Clay said he wasn't going to pay for your treatment. She faced him down, it was crazy!"

"Yeah, alright," Clay said with a smirk, "I was gonna pay for it. Just not when she told me, alright? I'm not letting a kid push me around."

"Still did though."

"Wait- what? Clay-" Happy started to argue, feeling bad about taking money away from the club.

"Nah, don't worry. I had money left from the Duke-Dillinger fund anyway and we couldn't expect you to pay for it. I'm gonna set up some kind of… company health insurance for my guys at TM anyway."

Happy nodded, still unsure but thankful anyway.

The club stayed for a while, talking and catching him up on everything that had happened. Mostly it was just Tig talking about how much he liked Catherine because it had only been a day since he was brought in and nothing had happened.

"Yeah and some psycho set some trash cans on fire outside Floyd's," Juice put in with a laugh, "got the whole damn town worried. Unser talked to us but we were all here when it happened so," he shrugged, "he thinks it was probably just some kids."

Happy chuckled. Fires were fun but killing people was better.

Everyone stayed for half an hour before they had to leave for various reasons but Chibs and Kozik stayed. They both stared at him for a while until he started to get uncomfortable.

"How is she?" Happy asked almost shyly then straightening out his blankets, "Where's she staying?"

"On our sofa-bed," Chibs told him with a small smile.

It was easy to tell that he was enjoying having Catherine there so he could look after someone which was something he had wanted for a while. He missed being a father.

"Ma's worried," Kozik said, "but she gets it. I told her that it was a random attack on the street and she made me promise that I called the cops. Your aunt's gonna be with her while you recover."

Happy liked that Kozik talked about Mama like she was his own mother. He didn't want to admit it but it meant a lot to him; he had never had a real brother or even a full family but having Kozik visit when he could and joining them for dinner was nice. And Mama loved it too. She liked looking after people so it was good for her too. They had tried to teach him Spanish but he didn't really get it so Happy often had to remind his mom to speak English around him.

"Good. They both ok?"

"Yeah, you know them. They're good."

Happy nodded in relief.

"She thinks you need to take Cat out though," the blonde man laughed and sat back in his chair, "as a thank you for saving your life. We talked about it."

"Take her for dinner," Chibs chipped in.

"She's major old lady material, dude. If you don't step up, I'm gonna."

Kozik was lucky Happy felt weak and was hooked up to all the machines because he felt like launching himself over and beating him up. There was no way he was going to let anyone have Catherine, let alone any of his friends. Just because he wasn't entirely sure about how he was going to deal with his feelings it didn't mean Kozik was allowed to take her from him. She was his girl.

"Chill," Kozik laughed when he saw Happy's clenched hands, "Juice is gonna get there before me for sure."

Happy pulled a pillow from behind him and threw it at his friends head to stop him from laughing. Eventually though they left him alone in the hospital to think about everything that had happened and worry about his mother but she wasn't alone so he really didn't need too.

Then he thought about Catherine. Often when he started thinking about Catherine he found it very hard to stop; it was only when she was there with him that he was able to think straight. He wondered why it was exactly but it was starting to infuriate him. Maybe he should take her for dinner… but where? What would she eat? What would she say? Would she say no, laugh and tell him to stop being stupid? Probably.

The next day, as Happy picked at his disgusting hospital breakfast, there was a quiet knock on the door. When he grunted for whoever it was to come in and the door opened he felt his eyes go wide. It looked like a bunch of flowers with legs was stood in front of a cheerful looking Chibs. Then a head of curly blonde hair and a pair of pretty grey eyes peeked out from around the side and he felt his body flood with relief that she was ok.

"Hey," he said gruffly and waved.

Then she whimpered softly and walked quickly over to him, put the huge bunch of flowers on his bedside table and all but attacked him into a hug. She sat up beside him on the bed with her arms around his neck and held him so tightly he could barely breathe. At first he was frozen and unsure what to do then she kissed him. It was only on his cheek and then his temple, but he leant into her touch and closed his eyes with a small sigh before he wrapped his arm around her waist to hold her back as best he could.

"I'm so sorry," she murmured into his shoulder, "I shouldn't have let you go."

"Stop."

Catherine nestled in closer to him and curled her legs up so they rested on his thighs. He wasn't even embarrassed about how soft he was with her because it was only Chibs in the room too.

"We stopped off by your house," Chibs said when it was obvious Catherine wasn't going to say anything else, "and your ma gave us some stuff for you. Here."

Happy took the small bag with his free hand and held it in his teeth while unzipping it with his free hand. Inside was some clothes and something he had never been happier to see in his life. Mama had packed some food in a Tupperware tub and a bag of chips. Catherine wasn't letting him have his arm back so he had to struggle with one hand. He wondered if that's similar to how Chucky felt.

Chibs stepped in and opened the tub of salsa and the bag of chips for him so he could dive in and finally eat something good. Hospital food was disgusting and he barely ate any of it. Catherine's hand sneaked into the bag on his table then munched happily on the couple she had stolen while her head rested on his shoulder.

"I'm gonna go and talk to the doctors, be back in a sec," Chibs said, standing up and giving Happy a pointed look.

When the door closed, Happy turned his head to look at the pretty blonde girl by his side and smiled when her eyes met his and he saw the tears shining in them. She didn't need to cry; he was alright.

"I spoke to Madame," she told him, "and I'm gonna start dancing in, like, a week. Right now I'm practising and stuff but I think I need to start going to the gym because I feel like I die whenever I dance for too long."

"I'll take you."

"You will?" Her eyes were so hopeful and happy.

He nodded slowly. It would have been a good time to kiss her then, or ask her out or something but she was very distracting. Especially since he still had the hazy memories of her boobs in his mind and also the thought of her stripping and seeing her practically naked.

"Are you still gonna come and see?"

"Sure," Happy shrugged casually but the excitement of it was almost too much to bear and he hoped his dick would behave when he was in the club.

"You think I'm gonna make lots of money? Like, enough to move out on my own with Jack?"

"Enough to buy _your_ house."

She smiled and wrinkled her nose at him which made him smile too. But he was being truthful, a girl like her would be really successful in the strip club and there would be more than enough men paying for her to dance for them. Happy included.

Happy stayed listening to her talking for a while, just letting her talk about whatever it was she needed to talk about; about her mom, her brother and his boyfriend (that she was going to meet him in the week sometime soon) and about Chibs and how much he and Viv were helping her for the moment and until she could get a place of her own. He listened to her complain about Clay and told him what happened from her point of view. Although he didn't want her to get into fights with the club president he was proud of her.

But he couldn't ask her out. Happy didn't go on dates or take girls out for dinner. He wasn't that kind of guy and he wished that he was for the first time in his life. The thought of dating never interested him before; he liked his girls to be fast and easy and not too much hard work because sex was a means to an end most of the time and pussy was better than his hand. But Catherine was more than just pussy to him and it was an alien feeling to him.

Then Catherine laced her fingers through his and sighed, looking away.

"Sometimes, Mr Lowman," she sighed when she had finished talking about her mom and Clay, "I get so angry and I just… I just want to burn _everything_. You know?"

He looked at the burns on her hands and thought about the smoke inhalation and then the fires set outside of the barbers. It couldn't have been her. Not _his_ Catherine. Right? Then his eyes slid to her sock clad feet where he had noticed something sticking out of the ankle. It was a lighter. Catherine was the 'psycho' that burnt the trash cans.

Then he smiled because she would be his Catherine; his little psycho.

 **Oh she's sweet but a psycho –** What do you think of that then?! Huh? Two fucking crazy people trying to hide their crazy from each other! How's Happy going to deal with this? How do we feel about Catherine completely defying her mother? I think she's becoming aware of how manipulated she has been her entire life. What do you think? Is she finally going to become reckless and wild? Or will she always be the same?

 _I_ know what's going to happen but what do you want to happen?

See you in the next one!

Love, Doe xxxx


	15. Chapter 14 - Welcome Home

Chapter 14 – Welcome Home

 _(This is just a whole chapter of Catherine and Happy being cute besties and Happy trying and failing to hint that he likes her. Enjoy)_

"Come on Mr Chibs!" I shouted up the stairs, "We're gonna miss him!"

Mr Lowman was coming home today after a week and a half of being in hospital. I had asked Mr Chibs if we could have a party for him but he told me I'd need to talk to Mr Morrow for some reason. I hadn't been happy about that but I decided that I just needed to be a grown up and do it but luckily he had agreed because all of his friends like parties. I hadn't been to a good party in ages so I was literally so happy. Mr Lowman was going to love it.

"We're not!" Mr Chibs laughed as he came down to meet me, "I'm looking for my lighter. They've grown fucking legs or something, I can't find any anywhere. You seen any?"

I shrugged and shook my head. But I knew exactly where they were: at the bottom of the bag Mr Lowman had brought my clothes in underneath all of my stuff. I couldn't help stealing them whenever I saw one out. With them were loads of matchbooks that they handed out at the club.

"I'll have to buy some on the way. Come on."

"Do I look nice?" I asked and gestured to the dress I had bought just for today, "Will he think I look pretty?"

"I'm sure he will," Mr Chibs smiled at me, "is your boy going to be ok on his own?"

I nodded. Romeo was a really good boy and was probably just going to sleep while we were out but I would have to come back to let him out and stuff in a few hours. I had wanted to bring him with us but apparently Mr Morrow didn't like dogs that much and there would be drunk people around that might hurt him. That was really sad but I understood.

Mrs Chibs was going to drive us there as long as I drove us back because they were both going to be drunk. That was fine, I had missed driving. Mr Lowman's mom was also going to be there for a few hours and I was really excited because I really liked her. I had checked in on her and his aunt a few times to make sure they were ok and Mrs Chibs gave me food to take for them when I did. It was really nice and I think his mom liked me too. At least she acted like she did anyway.

At the bar in the garage all of his friends were gathering and Mrs Morrow was telling Mr Juice and Jax to put up the "Welcome Home Happy" banner that me, Ellie, Kenny and Abel had made (I did the writing and they put the glitter and decorations on) over the door until it was straight while Mr Opie tied the balloons in neat bunches. I helped Mrs Chibs unload all of the food and take it inside, playfully slapping Mr Tig away when he tried to steal the cakes, and put it on the table.

"Everyone outside!" Mrs Morrow shouted, "They're nearly here!"

I hurriedly unwrapped the food and threw away the foil, arranged the plastic cutlery into cups and put all the napkins out. Mr Kozik shouted for me to join them all outside. As I hurried out, almost tripping on my heels, I saw the car coming through the gates with Mr Lowman, his mom and aunt inside. Mr Kozik put his arm around my shoulders and shook me slightly because he knew I was really excited for Mr Lowman to come home. Then, when they all got out of the car, Mr Lowman looked kind of annoyed at first then his eyes widened when he saw everyone and finally smiled.

I wanted to run and hug him but I think it would have been embarrassing for him if I did that in front of all of his friends. He went to all of his friends, laughing and smiling and hugging everyone; he looked happy. Mr Kozik let go of me to hug Mr Lowman and pat his back then it was my turn. He stood in front of me, smiling slightly.

"This your idea?" Mr Lowman asked me.

"Yep!"

He laughed quietly and held his arms open for me to walk into them. I wrapped my arms around his waist, gently because I didn't want to hurt him, and put my head on his chest then closing my eyes. I was happy he was out of the hospital because it meant that he was getting better. Mr Lowman touched my carefully styled hair and rested his cheek on the top of my head. He was so cute.

"Come inside," I said and turned my head up to look at him, he was pretty, "we've got food and stuff. And I'm gonna play some party games with the kids but you don't have to join in if you don't want too."

Before he said anything though, I heard Ellie shouting my name then felt some tugging on my dress. When I looked around I saw her stood beside me and jumping.

"Come on Cat!" She exclaimed, "Can we play musical chairs now?! Jax and Dad are gonna join in. Tig too!"

"Sure! I'll see you in there, ok?"

She nodded and ran away; dragging her brother inside to where I could see Mrs Morrow arranging some chairs into a small circle. I took Mr Lowman's hand and took him inside too and settled him on a chair and told him that when he needed something to let me know. I didn't want him to do anything that might hurt him.

"Do not move." I ordered him, shaking my finger at him sternly, "I'm gonna be right over there and if I'm busy then tell Mr Kozik when you need something."

"Yes Ma'am," Mr Lowman smiled with a single nod.

Happy with his answer, I turned and skipped over to where the musical chairs was being set up for the kids and the other adults that wanted to play. It was fun, especially because the other grown-ups were obviously genuinely enjoying themselves too. Mr Opie and Jax waited until we had sat before fighting over the last chair, then Mr Tig was out, then Mr Juice and me until it was just the kids playing. They were laughing and shouting and just having fun. I had brought loads of little candies and chocolates and small toys for the kids that won the games. Ellie was the first winner of the games so I let her choose a prize first but because I was way too soft on kids I let the others have a little candy each as well. Mr Juice then came and started to beg me for a lollipop and I tried to refuse but he had the cutest puppy dog eyes I had ever seen and it was really hard.

"Please," he begged with his hand outstretched, "Cat, please."

"No," I said, turning away from him and holding the bag to my chest, "they're for the kids."

"But I played too! Come on Cat!"

He ducked into my line of vision again and reached for the bag but I spun in another circle and laughed when he grabbed my arms. Then he crossed his arms over my chest so he was kind of hugging me while trying to get the bag away from me. Mr Juice's chin was on my shoulder as he tried to grab at the candy and I was giggling because I was really ticklish. The kids were watching me try and fight him off and laughing hysterically while cheering for me to keep the candy safe but none of them tried to help me, the traitors.

Suddenly, the bag was snatched out of my arms from above and I looked up with wide eyes. Mr Lowman was stood in front of us and holding the paper bag above our heads. I was about to tell him off when I saw that he looked really mad but I didn't know what I had done to make him that way. Mr Juice still had his arms around me and I had stumbled back into his chest in shock.

"Here," Mr Lowman said gruffly and handed Mr Juice a red lollipop.

I blinked up at him as Mr Juice slowly took the candy out of Mr Lowman's hand and let go of me. He didn't say anything as he backed away. When he looked back down at me, Mr Lowman looked like he was trying not to look so angry.

"He wasn't hurting me," I said quietly and shaking my head, "but you need to sit down."

I put my hands on my hips and glared up at him. Then he smiled again and stepped back to go back to his seat, rooting through the stolen candy as he did. I shouted after him and followed him quickly while trying to get it off of him but now it was my turn to try and get it away from him but he was so much taller than me so he just had to hold it up in the air and I couldn't reach it.

"This isn't fair," I whined at him, "I arranged the party just for you and you've just stolen all the prizes."

Mr Lowman just laughed and sat down.

(((((((())))))))

Later on, once all the children and Mrs Lowman had gone home, the party started getting rowdier. I had tried to tell Mr Lowman to go home but he refused and told me he would be fine but I was really worried that he would pull his stitches or do something to hurt himself. I just told him that as long as he stayed sat down I wouldn't be angry so it was my job to get him drinks and stuff but when I was sat next to him he would put his arm around the back of my chair with his hand on my upper arm and every time I went to stand and get him another drink he would wrap his hand around my arm to stop me from moving.

"Cat!" I heard Jack shout from across the room and I waved quickly at him and Aaron.

"Are you gonna let me stand up and meet my brother?" I asked Mr Lowman with what I hoped was a kind smile.

He narrowed his eyes playfully and let go of me so I could stand and skip over to Jack. I hugged him tightly then moved over to Aaron. I had met him a few times over the time Mr Lowman was in the hospital and I really liked him. He was just as tall as Jack, but I think all teenage boys are really tall, and really skinny too.

"Hey Cat, how are you?" Aaron asked with a small laugh.

"I'm good! Did you boys both get your homework done before you came?"

"We did."

"Are you ready to meet Mr Lowman? He looks scary but he's actually really, really nice and a good listener too."

"Is he the bald guy? With tattoos?"

"Uh huh." I nodded happily.

Aaron gulped and stood up straighter; pulling at his nice shirt and smoothing it out. I laughed at how silly he was being. Didn't he hear me when I said Mr Lowman was nice? I looped my arm through his and the other through Jack's and led them over to the table where all of my friends were sat. Mr Lowman eyed Aaron suspiciously before he stood up stiffly although I tried to argue that he needed to sit down. He stood almost nose to nose with Aaron but tilted his head up so he was looking down his nose at him. What was happening?

"Nice to meet you s-sir," Aaron stuttered and I giggled at him.

"Are you gonna look after this kid?" Mr Lowman asked.

"Am I- What?"

"Are _you_ gonna look after Jack?" Mr Lowman prodded Aaron hard in the shoulder, "'Cause if you hurt him you're gonna have the whole of SAMCRO on your back. Get it?"

"Yes sir."

Aaron said it seriously and nodded his head once. Then, apparently pleased with his answer, Mr Lowman held out his hand to shake the teenager's. Me and Jack watched this entire conversation silently and in shock then we looked at each other with what I guessed was the same expression of surprise. Where had that come from? Mr Lowman was acting like Jack's older brother or something and I think it was really sweet. I would have no chance in threatening Aaron because I literally came up to his knee and couldn't scare anyone if I tried.

"Sit down," Mr Lowman said and pointed to the empty seats then took my wrist and gently led me to my chair.

I smiled up at him; genuinely happy with what he did for Jack because he didn't need too. He looked back at me and nodded slightly like he knew it meant a lot to me.

"It's ok," he said with a smile.

(((((((())))))))

Mr and Mrs Chibs were drunk and it was literally the funniest thing I had ever seen. Mrs Chibs kept trying to get Mr Chibs up to dance but he really didn't want to and I think he was doing my trick of making himself heavier and leaning back on the chairs. He had a whole bottle of whiskey to himself and hadn't let go of it since he had started drinking and Mrs Chibs had literally drank two bottles of wine. I didn't know how they weren't passed out or even dead by now.

"Come on Kitty Cat!" Mrs Chibs sang and turned to me, "Come and dance with me, please! Hap, tell Cat she needs to come and dance with us!"

Mr Lowman laughed and turned to look down at me, nudged my leg with his and nodded towards all the other dancing people. I made sure he was going to be fine and told Jack and Aaron to watch him and help him if he needed anything since they were the only other people that weren't drunk in the entire building before I stood up and let Mrs Chibs drag me over to the dancefloor. I loved dancing so much and since I had been practising with Bambi I thought this would be the best time to practise. Sometimes, some guys would try and come and dance with us but I would wave them away like I used to at parties in LA.

Then I felt someone come and grab my shoulders. I was about to push the person off when I saw that it was Mr Kozik. He was grinning down at me while he took my hands and started dancing with me. Mrs Chibs was off dancing on her own with a glass of wine then joined Mr Tig. Mr Kozik started slow dancing with me even though rock music was playing and I literally couldn't stop laughing.

"Hap wants to take you out," he said, bending his head down so I could hear what he was saying, "since you saved his life. Go out with him."

"Pshh!" I scoffed although I could feel my cheeks going red, "That was nothing. I'll always save him, you know? He's my bestest friend."

"Bestest, huh?"

"Bestest _bestest_ friend."

Mr Kozik laughed and spun me around under his arm.

We danced for ages, sometimes I was alone other times one of Mr Lowman's friends would come and dance with me and one time even Jack came up. Then the party was quieting down and people were starting to pass out. Mr Chibs was sleeping on a couch with Mrs Chibs lying on top of him; Mr Tig had flopped over the bar while sat on a stool and Mr Juice was asleep on a table. Me, Jack and Aaron were some of the last people dancing then when I looked around I saw Mr Lowman standing up.

"Time to go home?" I asked him across the now quieter bar.

"Yeah," he breathed.

I nodded and went over to Mr and Mrs Chibs and crouched down next to them.

"Daddy," I whispered, shaking his shoulder, "I need your car keys to take Jack and Mr Lowman home. Are you coming?"

He grumbled like old men do and tried to get into his pocket but he was too drunk. He gestured to me to do it for him. I felt like I was stealing from him but he seemed fine with it. When I stood I saw all three guys lined up waiting for me like I was their mom or something. It was funny and weird at the same time. I pointed to the door and we stepped over the collapsed people on the floor towards Mrs Chibs' car. Jack was about to go shotgun but I sent him to sit in the back because Mr Lowman was here and it was adults in the front, kids in the back.

Jack and Aaron chatted happily like they had been all night and in the rear view mirror I could see them sat with their arms around each other and holding hands and it made me smile so much. I was glad that Jack was finally happy. I know we weren't allowed boyfriends but I guess since Daddy was gone now that didn't matter anymore.

When they were let out, Aaron shook Mr Lowman's hand and thanked us for inviting them to the party before they walked into the big house together.

"He's a good kid," Mr Lowman said and gestured kind of drunkenly to the two boys, "I like him."

"I like him too," I nodded then waited for the front door to close before driving off, "I think he's going to be really good for Jack. They met in math class, how cute it that? You mind if we see Romeo before I take you home? I think he's fine but just to make sure."

"Sure."

I thought he would wait in the car while I double checked but when I parked in the driveway he wobbled out of the passenger side. He made me laugh.

"You wanna come in and see Romeo too?" I laughed, "Ok."

Mr Lowman waited for me to unlock the door and as soon as it opened walked in to see Romeo stood on the sofa bed and wagging his tail. Then Mr Lowman made a sound I had never heard him make before; he was… giggling in his own way I think. His voice was really deep but it was still a giggle.

"Hello tiny dog," he laughed

Romeo was wiggling like he did all the time when he was overexcited and stood on his back paws with his front ones on Mr Lowman's leg until he was picked up. Mr Lowman held Romeo over his head like Simba and wrinkled his nose at him. I didn't understand how this giant scary man could be so adorable.

"So small…" Mr Lowman whispered as he looked up and shook Romeo gently.

"Mr Lowman?"

He glanced at me then pulled Romeo down so he was now cuddling him to his chest. So cute. He looked like I had caught him doing something bad but I didn't mind I was just surprised.

"Don't you want to go home? Your mom has missed you."

"I missed _you_."

I felt my eyes go wide again. He was just full of surprises when he was drunk and on pain medication.

"Oh… Ok. So you're staying?"

He nodded and sat on the edge of my sofa bed with Romeo and kind of looked like he was waiting for something. I wasn't sure what to do; normally I changed downstairs when Mr and Mrs Chibs were in bed.

"I'm gonna go change." I told him, "Can you take Romeo outside to go pee?"

He hummed and stood then walked away to the back door while I slipped off my tall shoes and went upstairs. My feet felt so much better when I had taken my shoes off; I hadn't even realised they had been hurting that badly. Then, midway through taking my makeup off and doing my skincare I heard Mr Lowman come in. I looked at him in the mirror while I had soapy face wash all over my face and going in my eyes; making me close one eye and squint the other.

"You ok?" I asked, spitting soap out of my mouth.

Mr Lowman just smiled and sat down on the closed toilet lid with Romeo following closely behind him.

"What's that?" He asked and pointed at my face.

"Face wash."

He hummed again and nodded then just kind of watched me wash my face. I explained all the different steps to him as I did them which he didn't really look like he understood but listened anyway; he seemed interested though and picked up some of the bottles to look at them.

"What are you gonna sleep in?" I asked as I dried my face and eyed his jeans sceptically.

"I got some stuff here," he shrugged, "in the linen closet."

I nodded. I had wondered why there were clothes in there when I was putting laundry away. I just thought maybe Mr Chibs didn't have any room for his clothes in their closet or something. I shuffled around trying to get things ready for him to sleep on the sofa bed and some extra blankets or whatever he might need.

It felt weirdly normal; like we had been doing this forever.

When he appeared downstairs and I was curled up in bed I was glad that it was dark though because he wasn't wearing a shirt and I don't know why but I was surprised about how hot he was. I know I had seen him before but I don't think about him like that really but when I saw him it felt different.

"You awake?" Mr Lowman asked quietly but I didn't answer; I wasn't sure I could stop my voice from being all embarrassing and squeaky.

When I didn't reply he grunted. I felt him climb into bed behind me and then he sighed heavily; fidgeting around then staying still. It was like he knew that I loved having my hair played with because he started running his hand through it and massaging my scalp. With him doing that and my eyes being closed I fell asleep quickly. I missed this.

(((((((())))))))

 **Happy/3** **rd** **Person POV**

Happy had never felt anger like he had when Juice had his arms around Catherine, making her laugh like he had never seen her laugh before and being so close to her. She wasn't his girl, not really, but he was more possessive of her than he should be. Then, when Kozik danced with her, he knew he had a problem. The way she had looked up at him, with soft eyes and a gentle smile on her lips, and with her hand in his then looped around the other man's neck had made jealousy build up in Happy's stomach. He wasn't a jealous guy usually but then again he had never felt like he felt about Catherine before. Girls were just girls before Catherine.

"Mr Lowman?" Catherine whispered with her voice thick with sleep.

Happy hummed quietly in answer but she didn't say anything either. In the dark, Happy felt her moving and turning over so she was probably facing him. She felt across the mattress under the blankets until she found him. Happy couldn't help smiling at how clumsy she was in the dark as she found his hand to then put on her head.

"More of this," she yawned then added, "please."

He laughed quietly and happily continued to stroke through her hair. But he kept thinking back to what Kozik told him in the hospital, and what he would tell him every time he visited. 'Take her out, she saved your life.'

"You like… food?" He asked with a cough.

"What kind of food?"

Fuck this was awkward, he thought to himself, how did people do this all the time?

"I don't-"

"I like pancakes," Catherine interrupted him sleepily, "and like… breakfast food. I never had pancakes and stuff much when I was a kid because-" she yawned, "-Mom didn't want me to get fat."

"That's shit."

She hummed in agreement and he felt her nod under his hand.

"Come for pancakes tomorrow."

Happy didn't mean for it to sound as demanding as it was. He wanted to sound kind and soft, like how he had heard the other guys talk to girls they wanted but he had never tried it before. Whenever he wanted to get a girl into bed all he had to do was look at them, maybe tell them what he wanted, and they would comply because all the girls wanted to say they had fucked the Tacoma Killer. But Catherine didn't know he was the Tacoma Killer. She didn't know who he was and it wasn't the reason that she liked him and wanted to know him. She just liked him for… him.

"Sure," Catherine shrugged, "Ok. I've got money."

"No. I'm paying. I don't care if you get fat."

"I'm already kinda chubby," she laughed, "more won't hurt."

Happy scoffed. She was many things but chubby was not one of them and he couldn't help wondering if her mom had called her fat much when she was a kid. He knew Catherine was a pageant girl and that the parents from those things were crazy and if he ever met one he would be terrified of them. Did she feel insecure about how she looked because of that? Probably not if she wanted to be a stripper.

"Look," Catherine chuckled and took his hand off of her head and put it on her stomach, "squishy." Then she put her hand on his and pressing slightly with her palm but being obviously careful not to go near his wound, "Not squishy."

He ignored the fact that when she had moved his hand she had accidentally made him brush against her chest. And he ignored the fact that her skin was so soft against his rough hand. And he ignored that he could feel the waistband of her shorts under his little finger which made him think of what was lower than that. He set his jaw and clenched his teeth and resisted every urge that told him to just kiss her and fuck her like he had wanted too basically since he had first seen her, before he knew who she was and what she was like; before he loved her.

"When we go to the gym," she carried on as if just touching her stomach wasn't turning him on beyond belief, "you'll have to show me how to get a belly like yours."

All Happy could do was nod and hope she knew somehow.

"Then I can eat, like, _all_ the pancakes and breakfast food I want and not get fat."

"Sure."

"And then when I dance I can make loads of money because I'll have an amazing belly and men will love me."

"When you starting?" Happy asked, trying not to sound too excited/over-eager.

"Not tomorrow, the day after. Madame won't let me put it off anymore so I said since you're not in hospital anymore I can start now. You know? Do you think you'd be ok enough to come?"

"Yeah."

"I'm gonna go back to sleep now. Ok?"

"Ok."

She hadn't told him to move his hand or to stop touching her so he didn't. In fact, he felt braver and drew his hand gently up her stomach to her side; tracing his fingers over her soft skin and slightly under her thin tank top where he could feel the bottom of her ribcage. He felt like he'd never touched anyone like that before. It was like he was a teenager again; nervous and clumsy and curious. And she had no idea. She sighed softly and shuffled under his hand so she was ever so slightly closer to him. There was

(((((((())))))))

 **Catherine POV**

Mr Lowman was really beautiful when he was asleep. I mean, he was beautiful anyway, but when he was asleep he didn't look so serious or angry and he snored a little bit which was kind of cute. He had his arms kind of wrapped around his pillow like he was hugging it. So big and scary and cute. I didn't get it.

When he was asleep I could look at his tattoos properly. My favourites were the little smilies on his stomach. I counted them in my head. 13 was a weird number; personally I would have had like, an even number. Some of them were darker than other ones and there was one that looked all gross and bumpy. I hadn't even seen them when I was doing his stitches but I was kind of not paying attention to what he looked like then and more thinking about stopping him from dying.

"I'm hungry," Mr Lowman said in an even raspier voice than he usually had.

I moved my eyes from his stomach to his face quickly. My cheeks suddenly went really hot but he didn't look like he noticed I was basically just checking him out.

"Ok," my voice came out in a whisper, "I'll make you some food… I can't cook but-"

"Pancakes, remember? Get dressed."

He sat up slowly; using the back of the couch to sit up properly.

"You're so bossy in the mornings," I laughed and swung my legs over the side of the bed to stand up, "who would have guessed?"

When I turned around to make the bed I saw Mr Lowman already starting to make his side. I smiled at him then blushed when he winked at me. I liked that he was tidy as well. I went to get changed upstairs like I had last night while he dressed downstairs but, like he had last night, Mr Lowman came up to watch me wash my face and put makeup on. He sat where he did the night before in silence; just watching in interest.

"You wanna try?" I asked and showed him my exfoliator.

He closed his eyes and tilted his face up to me. I chuckled quietly and wet my wash cloth to start doing his face. I wasn't really sure how far up to go because he had no hair. I knew to stop when I reached my hairline but Mr Lowman…

"You see," I told him as I massaged the face wash onto his skin, "Mr Lowman, and don't take this the wrong way, but you're not a young man anymore and you really need to start looking after your skin." He tutted and lightly tapped my leg with the back of his hand, "Besides, you work with cars and stuff which are really dirty and that can do so much damage you have no idea. All the fumes can get in your skin and give you these really big blackheads."

He nodded as I washed the soap off and picked up the exfoliator.

"You really need to exfoliate more. You have a face like a lizard."

"You just gonna insult me all morning?" He asked with a small, one-sided smile.

"I have a lizard face too! But I use this so it doesn't look like it." I scrubbed over his cheeks in small circles with both hands then over his nose, "A few more rounds of skincare and you'll be all polished and beautiful!"

Once I had washed all the stuff off his face, put the toner on, then started with the moisturiser. He looked relaxed and happy while I did, kind of like how Romeo looked when he was getting ear scratches. He hand his hands on my hips; holding me in the gap between his knees. His hands were massive and warm.

"There!" I said and gently tapped his cheeks with my hands, "All finished. How do you feel?"

Mr Lowman opened his eyes to look up at me. His eyes flickered over my face before he smiled.

"Clean." He told me.

I nodded happily.

I had offered to drive us to the diner for our breakfast, since I had Mr Chibs' keys and everything, but Mr Lowman wanted to take Romeo for a walk as long as we went slowly. We actually ended up going to his house too and picking up Scrap since he was probably "climbing the walls" as Mr Lowman had said. Romeo and Scrap were best friends too and it was literally the cutest thing in the world. It was funny seeing how different they were even down to their leashes. Romeo had a little grey rope and Scrap had a big heavy chain. I loved it.

The sun felt nice. It had been sort of grey the past couple of days but now it was all sunny and crisp and nice. The diner that Mr Lowman took me too had a cute little outside area around the back that over looked the empty fields around the town. It was really nice. I was sent to sit down while Mr Lowman went and got the drinks and stuff.

"Pancakes," he said and pointed at me then at himself, "pancakes and… sausages," he pointed at Scrap, then Romeo, "and sausages."

I laughed and took the heavy leash from Mr Lowman to take both babies around the back. I found a cute little table right in the corner and on the edge so I could see all over the edge of town. I could even see Daddy's building site and the car that was still there. _Daddy_ was still there. I was just about to get up and move so I wouldn't have to look at it when a tray was put in front of me with an orange juice, a big bowl of water and a coffee cup.

"You ok?" Mr Lowman asked as he caught me halfway to standing up.

"Yeah just… getting comfy."

I looked hesitantly at the building site and he followed my gaze before turning his head quickly back to the table before sitting down. I put the dog bowl on the floor for the puppies.

When the food came I had to restrain myself from eating it all quickly and not having time to enjoy it. There was syrup and butter and everything that I was never allowed to eat. Then, while I was cutting up my pancakes, Mr Lowman was cutting up the sausages for the dogs who were hovering around like sharks while he blew on the food to cool it off.

"Do you have kids?" I asked him and tilted my head to the side as I watched him preparing the food for them.

He squinted at me like he was thinking then shook his head. I think the fact that he had to think about it was quite worrying. How many girls had he slept with?

"Have you ever been in love?"

He froze and I immediately got excited; bouncing in my seat and clapping. That means he has. When I shuffled my chair closer to him he smiled and I for sure saw a blush on his cheeks before he ducked his face away from me.

"Tell me _everything_. Who was she? What was she like?"

Mr Lowman winced when he put the plates on the floor for Scrap and Romeo as I started eating. I kept looking at him with wide eyes to encourage him to talk more. He never told me anything about himself and I didn't know much about him so this was the first thing he had ever admitted.

"She was…" he chewed thoughtfully, "soft."

I scoffed and sat back in my seat with my arms folded, rolling my eyes. What on earth was that supposed to mean? She used good moisturiser? That's not a reason to love someone. I scowled at him. I had genuinely thought I was going to find out something about him.

"Just everything about her," he shrugged and laughed at my reaction, "she was just soft."

"What happened?"

He looked kind of sad for a minute and I was starting to think that maybe she had died or something, or cheated on him.

"I'm not soft."

"So you never even asked her out?"

"She was too-"

"If you tell me she was too good for you I'm gonna come over there and choke you with your own pancakes."

Mr Lowman spluttered out a surprised laugh and looked at me with now happier eyes. I tried to keep a straight and serious face but he was so cute that I couldn't stop my lips from curling up into a smile.

"What?!" He laughed.

"You're a good man," I told him, tapping the table with my palm after every word then folding my arms again, "ok? And don't you dare tell me I'm wrong! There's way too many people that would agree with me. I know your mom would agree, and all your friends, and Jack and… _everyone_. I mean… you've done nothing but help me literally since we met, you know? You're just always there when I need you."

His face went serious again and he avoided looking at me. I leant forwards to try and catch his eye again, silently asking what was wrong.

"Not always," he mumbled.

"Yes always!"

"At your house… with your uncle- Catherine-" he looked up at me with the worst expression on his face, not like serious or blank like he normally was but he looked sad and in pain and it was the worst thing in the world, "I wasn't _there_."

I shook my head and put my hand over his on the table. I frowned at him, still shaking my head. He was there though. He was the one that called his friends to come and help me. If he wasn't there that day then I would have been really hurt. Was that why he went to get my stuff? Did he feel guilty about it?

"Happy," I whispered softly, his real name feeling and sounding weird coming out of my mouth, "no."

He tugged on my hand gently, his eyes not leaving mine, and I knew exactly what he needed. I stood up and immediately wrapped my arms around his shoulders, pulling his head to my stomach, and cuddling him close. I wasn't embarrassed but I wondered if he was because he completely hid his face and turned away from the one other table of people outside. His arms wrapped around me and he held me just as tightly.

"I didn't even check on you," he mumbled with his voice muffled in my soft belly, "Chibs had to do it."

"Yeah, but you were there all night, right? And you made me feel safer than I've felt in a real long time. You were there when I needed you and now I was there when you needed me so maybe we're even now."

He nodded and loosened his arms; he had had enough cuddling. I pulled back from him slowly, cupped his face in my hands and kissed the top of his head gently before sitting back down on my chair. I hoped he felt better now and wouldn't do anything stupid again to try and make it up to me when there wasn't anything to make up for. I understood but I didn't want to encourage him in anyway.

We finished our breakfast in a comfortable silence while the dogs had finished theirs and started chasing each other around the patio area. If there were more people outside or some kids around I would have made them come and sit but eventually the other people left and they had complete freedom of outside. Romeo was chasing Scrap but because he was small he could go under the tables and chairs and catch him even quicker. It was adorable.

"You ready?" Mr Lowman asked after we had watched them playing for a while.

I nodded and called them over before clipping their leashes back on their collars. I wasn't sure where we were going but it was nice just walking around for fun. Then, I saw the park where I had spoken to him properly for the first time and I grinned. When I looked up at Mr Lowman I already saw that he was smiling too. He took a tennis ball out of his pocket and shook it in Scrap's face. Immediately the big dog went into playful mode again; bouncing around on the end of his chain. We let the dog off in the field and they had almost immediately ran off to look for the ball. Mr Lowman winced when he threw it so I took over.

We walked side by side around the park, not really talking but also not feeling the need to either. There was this really cute little duck pond on the middle. It kind of felt a bit like a date although I knew it wasn't.

"Have you ever been on a date?" I asked him as I picked the ball up from the grass to throw it again.

"Me?" Mr Lowman asked, turning to me with his eyebrows raised.

"No," I scoffed sarcastically and rolled my eyes, "Scrap."

"Never."

"Never?! Mr Lowman?! All those girls and you never took one of them on a date? You're such a… a… scoundrel!"

He laughed and nudged me with his elbow. He was looking down at me happily and with a raised eyebrow. I shook my head at him in disbelief but laughing too. I really couldn't believe that a man his age had never had a date ever in his life. It was ridiculous! I mean I know I was 23 and had never had a date before but I had controlling parents that didn't let me, I had every chance to go on a date with a guy. Mr Lowman didn't have a controlling dad though.

"I can't believe you," I continued, shaking my head then throwing the ball again, "I think Greta would have really liked you."

"Even if I'm a _scoundrel_?"

" _Especially_ because you're a scoundrel. She was always a bad influence on me."

He laughed again and pointed to a bench as we passed it. I nodded and walked back to it; sitting down with him sitting beside me. He was closer than I thought he meant to be but then he put his good arm over my shoulder, like he did at the party, but stayed looking out at the big duck pond. I looked up at him wide-eyed but said nothing and he didn't either; just pulled me closer to his side and settled down on the bench with a small sigh.

"I'm happy you're home, Mr Lowman," I said, resting my head on his shoulder then putting my arm around him, "I really missed you."

"I missed you too," he mumbled and put his cheek on top of my head.

We sat for ages, just watching the dogs play and people watching. It was the best day of my life in a long time because there was nothing dramatic or sad happening, I wasn't going through anything. For the first time since I arrived in Charming I realised that I was happy. Really, really happy. Realising this I snuggled closer to Mr Lowman and smiled. I was happy because he was with me.

 **Is anyone else crying?** \- Sorry it's short and nothing really happens. I just wanted them to have one good day, you know? They've been through a lot; they deserve a cute breakfast date and a walk through the park. Even though Catherine didn't know it was a date.

What does everyone think? Is Catherine maybe realising she has feelings for him yet? Is she afraid of having feelings for him?

And what do we think of Happy kind of admitting that he loves her? Or him finally admitting that he felt bad for not being there when she was being attacked by Jerry?

Anyway, let me know!

See you in the next one, love from

Doe

xxxx


	16. Chapter 15 - Duchess

Chapter 15 – Your Duchess

"Come on, come on!" Bambi was saying to me, shaking some lace in my face, "Just try it on! I want you to look amazing for your debut!"

We had spent hours in Stockton looking for the perfect thing for me to wear on my first night. Bambi wanted me to wear small bikinis or weird metallic booty shorts and bras but none of them were my style. I wanted to look classy and pretty and girly. We were in a lingerie store because she was getting tired of me being so picky in the dance store where she got all of her outfits.

"What's your signature thing going to be?" She asked, looking over the various different things on the walls, "Like, I always wear tacky Halloween costumes, Kitty always wears the cat stuff, what about you?"

"I don't know," I shrugged and picked up loads of stockings because all of the girls wore them, "I haven't really thought about it."

"You're going on tonight!"

I shrugged again. There had kind of been a lot going on with Mr Lowman in the hospital and I was still waitressing every hour I could so I didn't really have time to think about dancing. I was literally so tired all the time I couldn't think about anything. I didn't even think about what my name was going to be. Apparently that was a big thing.

"I just wanna look… _expensive_ ," I told her eventually, "like I used too, you know? Like, how I looked at parties in LA."

I was looking so plain nowadays but I blame Jerry for that so much. I mean, he was the one that cut up all my good clothes and only left me with track pants and a pair of shorts. The only nice dress I had was the one I wore for Mr Lowman's party and I couldn't wear that to dance in.

"I've got it! Stay here, try some things on. I want to see at least three cute outfits to match your shoes when I get back," Bambi instructed me firmly before turning to leave quickly.

Where was she going?

But, I did what I was told and looked around the store. Everything was pretty but I wasn't sure if it was pretty enough. I wanted to make lots of money. I know I had boobs and a butt which, apparently, men liked but I don't think that was good enough. I wanted to look nice.

Eventually, I found some stuff that was pretty. I picked up a beige bra and panty set with those things that hold stocking ups, I know lots of the girls wear them and the men like it; a pale grey sheer and lace body suit thing that would hide literally nothing when I was wearing it and some nude coloured stockings. It was all really pretty and literally nothing I would wear in real life but I guess I would be a different person when I was on stage. Bambi had taught me how to be cool and sexy and stuff which was so not me at all.

As I was paying, I heard the sound of high heels clopping towards me with the sound of shopping bags. I looked over my shoulder to see Bambi coming over with a massive grin on her face, holding a bag with a name I didn't recognise it on it. It looked expensive.

"Here!" She exclaimed, "For you!"

"What? Bambi-" I stuttered, shaking my head and pushing the bag back towards me.

"Psh! Just take it! It's a gift, ok? I wanted to get these for you."

There was more than one thing in there? I hesitantly took it and looked inside. As soon as I did my mouth went dry and I lost all the air in my lungs. Inside I saw two boxes wrapped with a beautiful white ribbon. I recognised it as jewellery; all my stuff used to come wrapped like that.

"Come on, let's go for lunch and you can open it!"

I nodded numbly and followed her through this weird city that wasn't really anything like I was used to a city being. It was quieter and looked more like a big town than a city. We sat at a table in a cute restaurant, ordered food and drinks before I was ordered to open my presents. Bambi was bouncing in her seat and clapping as I pulled the two boxes out of the bag, slipped off the ribbon and lifted the lid and just wanted to shriek in excitement. Inside the first one was a choker covered in rhinestones that looked so much like diamonds. It was about two inches thick and made of a solid metal with a hinge on one side and a clasp on the other. It looked almost like a collar. Then, in the bigger box, sat a crown. Like… an _actual_ crown. It was gold with the same kinds of stones in as the necklace.

"Duchess," Bambi said with a smile, "that's gonna be your name. You're gonna look expensive and all the men are gonna try and impress you with how much money they can give you."

"Thank you," I said, almost crying, "Bambi I don't know what to say."

Bambi shrugged as if it was nothing, "I wanted to. You helped all the girls when we needed it so I wanted to get this for you. It's gonna look so pretty with your hair all up and everything. You can borrow my extensions to make it thicker. You're gonna make so much money."

(((((((())))))))

That evening, before the club opened for the dancers, I let Bambi do my makeup and hair. She had curled my hair neatly and piled it up on my head then clipped in extensions to make it thicker and nestled the crown in it. My makeup was heavy with big eyelashes and pink lips. I wore the less revealing outfit I chose, strapped myself into the crazy big shoes that all the girls wore. When I looked in the mirror I barely recognised myself as the person I was in Charming and more like who I was when I was doing pageants; the makeup and the crown helped.

"What do you think?" Bambi asked with her hands on my shoulders, "Your tits look great in that bra."

"I- yeah," I nodded.

I did look good. I felt good.

"Do you know if Mr Lowman is here yet?" I asked, peeping through the curtains to look at the gathering crowd of guys, "I can't see him."

"Who's that?" Bambi asked, easily looking over my head, "You're sugar daddy?"

I laughed and shook my head, "He's my bestest friend! He said he'd be here."

"He's probably forgotten; men are pigs. They never keep their promises."

"Nuh-uh! Not Mr Lowman. He's a really nice man."

She huffed. She had loads of guy troubles lately and would talk about it but I had literally no idea what to say to her when she complained about them. But Mr Lowman wasn't just a guy. He was a nice guy. Maybe I could set them up? No. Mr Lowman was my friend and Bambi was my friend; I didn't want them to be friends too. I wasn't very good with sharing. What if Mr Lowman liked Bambi more than me and then didn't want to be my friend anymore?

"You're on now Babe," Bambi said, moving back from the curtains and pulling me back, "you can't wait for him forever. Come on. Madame's announcing you."

I frowned, still unable to see my friend but I knew I had no choice but to go on without him being there. Bambi perfected my hair and made sure my stockings were even and dusted this glitter thing over my cleavage before I went to the entrance to the stage to wait.

"We have a special surprise for you gentlemen this evening," Madame was saying, "because we have a new girl for your viewing pleasure. But be gentle with her, she's very nervous. Are you ready?"

The crowd cheered and my heart thudded in my chest and in my ears. It was the same feeling before I would go on to do the talent performance of the pageants or the swimsuit section. I was nervous and excited at the same time. I was nervous because I knew that after I danced on the stage I would have to go into the crowd and dance for the men. I know I had been taught really well by Bambi though.

"Then welcome to the stage, your Duchess!"

I stepped out, put on my pageant girl smile and opened my arms wide; as if welcoming them to the club as they cheered for me. Then I went into dancing in the enticing way Bambi had taught me; drawing my hands over my chest and stomach, moving my hips slowly then sinking to my knees in front of the gathering crowd of men. At first, the way they reached for me scared me but then I realised what they were doing. They were putting money into my stockings, my garter belt and trying to reach my bra but I was too high up for that. The ones that didn't tuck money onto my clothes threw it on the stage under me and one man was just patiently holding it up to me. I recognised the hand that held it and then the arm attached to that hand.

Mr Lowman _had_ come.

I smiled at him, wrinkled my nose and slipped the money out of his hand to then throw it up into the air so it fell down onto me. They seemed to like that so I reached down, grabbed a pile of money with both hands and threw it up so it rained down over me. I've never been happier to see crumpled up dollar bills in all my life. I wasn't that good at counting but I could easily see that there was at least $200 there plus whatever was stuffed into my underwear. It was amazing. I had literally made one weeks worth of waitressing wages in less than 10 minutes.

When my dances were over for a while I gathered my money up and ran backstage with a quick glance back at Mr Lowman. Bambi grabbed me and shook me slightly, grinning madly and laughing.

"You did so good! They fell in love with you!" She exclaimed, "Come on I've got you a bag for your cash so you can count it up when you go bac and get changed."

I nodded, too excited and buzzed to say anything, and stuffed all the money into the tote bag. Bambi helped me take it out of my clothes quickly because I had to go onto the floor in like 2 minutes. She came out with me, chatting happily while all I could think was how much I wasn't looking forward to dancing for the men.

"Heads up," Bambi whispered, suddenly different from how excited she was before, "I think you've got your first dance. He's a handsome one too."

I looked over to where she was nodding and breathed a sigh of relief. It was Mr Lowman stood with his hands in his pockets and smiling slightly. I bounced on the toes of my big shoes and walked over to him, took his left arm in my hands and dragged him to a chair.

"You can be my first, Mr Lowman," I whispered to him and pushed his chest gently so he would sit down before putting my hands on his legs so I could lean in and talk in his ear without other people hearing, "don't worry, you don't have to pay."

"No," Mr Lowman said, almost sounding tense, "here."

He handed me some money and wouldn't let me refuse it. I just shrugged and went to take it but he moved it just out of my reach with a sly smile when I frowned at him. Before I could ask what he was doing he slid the bills into the garter on my left leg, except it wasn't the front; he hand leaned forwards and put it in the one around the back just under my butt. I rolled my eyes at him then started to do what Bambi taught me. I moved my hips over his lap but hovered so I never touched him, that was a big no-no when dancing for them, then put my hands on his knees to gently stroke down his shins towards his boots so my butt was basically in his face. I took my hands away from him while I turned to kneel between his legs then put them back on his knees. His face looked weird, like tense and stressed, and his hands were in stiff fists on his legs. Was I that bad?

The song ended and I blinked up at him.

"Did I do ok?" I asked, nodding slightly.

"Yeah," he breathed, "you did good."

"Amazing! If you wait around for like two songs I can give you your money back, ok? Let me just get some more so people don't realise."

"It's fine. It's yours."

But Mr Lowman didn't have much money. I didn't want to take any more from him so I shook my head and firmly told him I'd give it back to him anyway. Before he could argue with me, another man had come over and asked if I was available. I offered him my hand so he could help me off the ground. I squeezed Mr Lowman's fist lightly to tell him I'd see him later before this other man led me away to a table so I could dance for him too. He handed me $30 and I didn't feel bad about taking the money now because this man was just some guy; I didn't care if he had money or not all I cared about was if he was giving it to me. I slid it into my stocking and started to dance, swaying my hips over him and turning around and touching my chest in front of his face.

I'm not sure how sexy I was being but guys literally queued up. Every time I finished one dance and turned to find someone else to dance for there was another guy waving money in my face and asking me to dance for them.

On Mr Lowman's second dance, an older man hovered behind me and I decided to practise flirting. I wasn't attracted to this guy; he wasn't my type whatsoever, but he looked like one of Daddy's friends that would have had money. I mean, I'm sure I'd need to flirt at some point in my life anyway.

"How much for a dance?" The man asked when I turned to look at him.

I threw the curls that had fallen from my hairstyle over my shoulder and perched on Mr Lowman's leg. I'd never sat on a boys knee before so I was a bit uncomfortable but Bambi told me that even if I feel weird and unsure that I just needed to play it off as good as possible. I needed to act fine even though I wasn't and I think I've been getting really good at that over my time in this town.

"How much do you think I'm worth?" I asked coyly, "Impress me."

This had the man reaching for his wallet even though he was already holding money. I'm gonna use that line in the future for sure. I leaned back against Mr Lowman's chest while I waited for this guy to count out his money. Mr Lowman made a weird noise and I worried that I had hurt him, he had literally just got out of hospital after being stabbed, but I had to keep being professional and pretend I didn't notice. His hands went around my waist slightly then down my hips over my garter belt and to my thighs. I felt weird. I felt warm and restless and tingly but before I could start squirming I was handed $150.

Breathing a sigh of relief, I stood from Mr Lowman's lap and looped my arm through the other man's and walked with him to the small sectioned off area behind a curtain. I could see Bambi already dancing with another man in the next alcove over.

"So," The Guy said, trying to touch my bra but I moved subtly out of the way, "what's your name?"

"Duchess," I murmured to him, dodging out of his reach again.

"No. Your _real_ name."

We weren't allowed to use our real names for safety reasons. It didn't matter what I told him though he still tried to take off my clothes and get my real name out of me. I glanced over at Bambi and saw that she was looking at me and watching the man carefully while she danced. I nodded to her to tell her that I was alright. I didn't want to do private dances anymore; only on stage and out on the floor.

It seems that men liked me. I kind of knew that anyway, they always looked at me and asked me out when I was waitressing, but they especially liked me when I was half naked and giving them all of my attention. Bambi had told me to only ever look at the man I was dancing for and no one else; they had to believe I was only there for them. That was kind of hard though when others watched me dance and tried to get my attention so they could know if I would dance for them next.

At the end of the night, at 2am, my tote bag was full of money and I was so sleepy. I changed into the comfy shorts I wore for bed and shirt; happy to be more covered up.

I really didn't want to walk home because my feet were hurting me so much but I think a couple more nights dancing and I could afford a cheap car; then I can start saving up to rent somewhere for me and Jack and then I can save to move back to LA. I said goodbye to the other girls and hitched my dance bag (the one with all the lighters and stuff in) onto my shoulder to leave the club. As I passed the bar, I picked up 3 matchbooks and put them in my bag without thinking. There were a few men still wandering around outside but a smile came onto my face when I saw Mr Lowman chewing on a toothpick he'd got from the bar and leaning against the wall next to the door. He looked like a cowboy.

"You're still here?" I asked but wasn't unhappy about it, "Aren't you sleepy?"

"Making sure you're ok," he shrugged and pushed himself away from the wall.

"Oh? You're walking me home?"

He nodded slowly and started walking beside me. I talked about the night and all the people I danced for and the money I had made. I hadn't counted it yet but I was saving that for when I got home. Mr Lowman nodded, listened and laughed with me as we walked. Then, when we got back to Mr Chibs' house he walked to the door with me.

"Are you coming in?" I asked, turning to look at him.

"Yeah."

I nodded. Mr Chibs had made a key for me since I was going to be staying with them for a while. He even put a really big, cute and fluffy keychain on it for me. It was so cute. When I threw my bag on the bed all the lighters in the bottom rattled but I don't think Mr Lowman noticed. He greeted Romeo in a hushed voice because Mr and Mrs Chibs were sleeping upstairs. I flopped back onto my bed and kicked off my shoes.

"I don't think we have any food. We should have got some, huh?" I asked, looking at him as he sat beside me.

"I got this."

Like a magician, he reached into his leather vest and pulled out a foil wrapped object. I think I could smell grilled cheese and my stomach immediately started growling. When he opened it both me and Romeo were getting closer. Where had he got it from? It was still steaming like he had just made it. It was even cut into triangles; my favourite. He handed me one half which I gladly took from him.

"Where did you get it?" I asked, before I bit into it.

"The diner. It's open all night."

That was good to know.

(((((((())))))))

We sat cross legged on my bed while we counted out my money. Mr Lowman was really fast at counting money. Eventually, I just let him do it because I kept losing count and getting confused. It was all arranged in neat stacks on the mattress and seeing it all made me so happy.

"$955," Mr Lowman concluded, "not bad."

"Not bad?! That's like… a new pair of Louboutin's! What could I buy? Maybe a dance bag… or a new pair of dance shoes or-"

"Maybe you could pay some money to Chibs for rent and food."

He didn't say it nastily, more like he was reminding me. I had never had to think of things like that before so it just didn't come into my mind. I wanted to give Mr Chibs all of the money though because he had helped me so much.

"That's a good idea," I yawned, "I'll do it tomorrow."

I put all the money back into the bag and then lay back on my pillows while Mr Lowman stood and moved behind the couch. I heard the door of the linen closet open and close again.

"Are you staying again?" I asked with another yawn.

"Yeah. That ok?"

"Sure. It's not my house though so if Mr Chibs comes down and tells us off I'm gonna blame you. I don't know what his rules about sleepovers are yet."

Mr Lowman breathed out a laugh. I took my bra off from under my shirt; unclasping it from the back and pulling the straps out of the arms before slipping it out of the bottom. Taking off your bra is the best feeling in the world, I swear. I kept my eyes shut while he changed then opened them again when I felt him get under the blankets. He looked just as cute as he had last night when he was tucked in up to his chin.

"Does your mom mind you not being home?" I asked as I settled into my pillows. "I mean, you only came out of the hospital, like, yesterday and you've not slept at your house."

"Nah, Aunt Maya is still there. She's in my room so I got nowhere to sleep."

"The couch?"

"Rather sleep here," Mr Lowman shrugged.

I liked it when he slept here too.

 **Happy/3** **rd** **Person POV**

Chibs had grown used to going down for his morning coffee and seeing Catherine asleep in his living room. His routine had become to gently pat her head to wake her up for work and then let her little dog out in the garden while he had his first cigarette of the day. What he wasn't used too was going to sleep thinking Catherine would be alone and then waking up to find someone else asleep beside her but not only beside her; wrapped up in his arms under the blanket. From the stairs, their heads were hidden behind the back of the couch but there was no mistaking the bigger figure beside her. He thundered down the stairs, about to rip whoever it was out of his kind of daughter's bed only to see who it was.

Happy lay peacefully in the sofa bed with his arms wrapped tightly around Catherine with her head tucked under his chin; like she was a teddy bear. Calming down, Chibs puffed out a relieved breath and went about his morning routine.

"Fucking lighters," he mumbled when he looked for the one he usually kept on top of his cigarettes by the door.

Happy woke up to the sound of clattering in the kitchen and the smell of coffee. He opened his eyes to see blonde curls spread over the pillow beside him and he couldn't help smiling. At some point in the night Catherine had rolled closer to him and he hadn't been able to resist pulling her even closer. She was so small and soft and cuddly.

"Morning Lover," he heard Chibs say with a smile in his voice.

He looked over his shoulder he saw Chibs sat on the armchair wearing his old man pyjamas and a newspaper across his lap. He was smirking.

"Oh," Happy said roughly with a small cough, "hey."

"How did she do?"

Happy looked back down at the girl in his arms and smiled. She looked entirely different than she had in the club. He preferred her this way although seeing her dressed like that had definitely made him feel something that was less than PG.

"Amazing." Happy told Chibs with a nod.

"Did you have fun?"

Happy scoffed as if to say that it was obvious that he had fun. Catherine started stirring and he had to reluctantly let go of her. She rubbed her eyes and yawned adorably before looking at his chest with a small frown then suddenly looked up at him with wide eyes. He loved it when she looked at him like that.

"I'm sorry," she squeaked and moved back across the mattress.

"Morning sweetheart," Chibs said almost smugly.

She gasped, sat up and then looked at him with wide eyes.

"Oh my gosh! I'm sorry Mr Chibs! I didn't know your rules about sleepovers and- and-"

"Shhh! It's too early for shrieking," Chibs laughed and winced, "it's alright. How much did you make?"

As Happy sat up, Catherine bounced out of bed and grabbed her money bag from the floor with a small laugh before practically skipping over to her dad and started to empty the money over his head. Chibs covered his coffee with his hand then laughed as well, watching as the almost $1000 was shaken over him. She told him excitedly about how much she had made and about how her first night went. It was good to see her so happy.

Happy made sure to remember how happy she looked when she lay back on the stage the night before and dropped money all over her body. He liked seeing her smile. He especially liked seeing her smile when she was covered in money and barely clothed. But, she wasn't a stripper at the moment; she was just a girl seeking approval from someone that she thought of like a father figure. Chibs understood, told her that she did really well and he was proud of her before touching her cheek with a very affectionate smile. Happy couldn't help thinking how angry her real dad would be when he found out she was a stripper. Perhaps it was for the best that he had disappeared.

Catherine didn't look directly at Happy for the rest of the morning which he found funny; she would dance in underwear and be seductive for him but waking up cuddled up to him made her blush? He purposefully spent the morning shirtless just because he liked making her blush. Which she did almost every time she looked in his direction.

 **Surprise Bitch –** This was only a little chapter. I didn't really know how to end it but really wanted to write about her first night of dancing! There was no way I could carry it on in a way that made sense.

Happy finally be making some moves even though it was when she was giving him a lap dance.

Prepare yourselves kiddo's because it's gonna start getting dramatic from here. Now, Catherine is going to be bobbing along happily in her life making money but behind the scenes there's going to be a lot going on so we'll be seeing it more from the Sons perspective.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this little one. I'll see you soon.

Love, Doe xxxxx


	17. Chapter 16 - Papi

Chapter 16 – Papi

Dancing was the best decision I ever made… I think. I was making literally so much money. Before I started working I didn't really _get_ money. When it was just numbers in the bank it didn't really mean anything but when I saw it out on the stage or in my clothes or in my tote bag I understood what a lot of money meant. I mean, I know I didn't make nearly as much money as Daddy used too but it was still a lot. I nearly had enough money to put a deposit on an apartment or a small house for me and Jack. I had looked around a few but none of them were the kind of place that I wanted to live in; they were completely different to what I lived in at home and when we moved to Charming. I had told the lady that I wanted to have a backyard for Romeo to play in so she said she would see what she could do.

Mr Chibs came around to look at houses with me when Jack was in school but neither of them were that much help when I talked about how I would redecorate the houses and what I would have done to the gardens. They just kind of nodded and didn't have any ideas whatsoever; it was kind of annoying. We would only be renting for a while until I had saved money to get us back to LA. Jack didn't want to leave anymore, now that he had Aaron, but I told him that we didn't belong in this town and now that Daddy was "missing" and Mom hated me we needed to get back to where we know people. But, at the same time, I didn't want to leave Kathy and Bambi and especially Mr Lowman. It was gonna be tough deciding what I wanted to do.

"What about this one?" Mr Lowman asked, sliding a brochure over the table to me, "It's got a yard and two rooms."

"What part of town is it in? The rent's kinda cheap."

He looked down at the address on the brochure and chewed his pancakes. Breakfast had become me and Mr Lowman's thing once he could go to work again. We went to the diner at least three times a week before he had to work and we took it in turns to pay. Sometimes other people would come with us, like Mr Chibs or Mr Juice or Mr Kozik, but I liked it best when it was just me and Mr Lowman. Sometimes he would bring Scrap and I would take Romeo and we would just have a nice morning. I liked it anyway and he must have fun too because otherwise he wouldn't keep coming over. And, on the nights when he visited me in the club he would walk me home and then sleep over. At first I was nervous, after the whole accidental cuddling incident and everything, but then it didn't happen again and I was ok about that.

"Few streets away from me," he said with a nod, "could probably find cheaper though."

"You think? Oh Mr Lowman being a grown up is so hard. Why does anyone do it?"

I huffed and rested my chin on my hand, looking at him hopelessly. He was smiling slightly while he looked at me then cast his eyes back down to the pile of brochures on the table.

"What does Jack think?"

"Ugh! He wants Aaron to move in with us but what kind of sister would I be if I let my little brother's boyfriend live with us and sleep in his bed. _Then_ , he says I should just get a three bedroom house. What kind of dumb idea is that? I can't afford that. Like, I know I make loads of money dancing but not that much. I just need to get out of Mr Chibs' house, I bet they are getting annoyed with me living on their couch."

"Nah. Chibs likes having you there."

"Yeah but they're a _couple_ and do _couple things_ which would probably be easier if I wasn't there. You know?"

Mr Lowman laughed and nodded. He knew what I was talking about without me even having to fully explain it. I was already scarred for life by what I had heard. It wasn't loads but it was enough for me to want to leave and let them do their couple things in peace. I could always see Mr Chibs on my days off or whatever. I would miss living with them though.

"I get it," he nodded with a small smile, "what about here? It's above Floyd's."

I couldn't get an apartment above the barbers shop because I kept setting fire to the trash cans outside of it. He had ruined it though because there were cameras on the doors now and I had almost been caught. Luckily, the quality was really bad and I had my back to them all, especially since I had been "disguised" in a black hoodie. I had to change my dance bag though because that was caught on the CCTV. They saw all the sequins reflecting in the light of the fire on the cameras. Luckily enough people didn't recognise it as mine so I wasn't in trouble for anything. Besides, I was starting to want to make bigger and more exciting ones and the trash cans were literally so boring now. I had looked at cars and bushes and stuff but nothing had felt right.

"I need at least a backyard. For Romeo, you know?"

Mr Lowman looked at me slightly too long and I could have sworn that he knew there was another reason why I couldn't live there but he shrugged and moved the brochure to the side. That was a close one; I'm not sure I could lie to him if he ever asked me about anything. He couldn't know I was crazy. I don't think he would be my friend if he found out.

"I'll ask around," Mr Lowman said and drank the last of his coffee, "someone's gotta have a house for you."

"I just feel like I'll never find one big enough. I really want a pool; I really miss going swimming or like hanging out in the pool."

"Not gonna find a pool on stripper tips, even you."

I pouted at him which made him smile. He liked it when I pouted at him, I think, because he always smiled and laughed when I did it. It made him do things for me too, just like it worked with everyone I've tried it on. Last time I used it on him he came clothes shopping with me. I could have gone on my own but he's really strong and I needed him to carry all of my bags for me.

"Come on. I'm gonna be late."

I nodded and stood up, piling the plates up neatly for the waitresses even though I didn't like them. They always judged me because sometimes we came in after I had been dancing and they always tried to take Mr Lowman's attention away from me; they always spoke to him and flirt with him. It was the most annoying thing in the entire world. They even kept talking to him when he ignored them. I would have just given up. And it _really_ annoyed me when they tried to touch him too. He would just shrug them off.

We walked down the street together, talking about when I get my own house and stuff and how I would decorate it. I had enough money saved up for some furniture and everything; I was actually really proud of myself. I hadn't even bought any new shoes or anything. The most that I bought was more stuff for when I was dancing; I had more lingerie and dancing shoes than actual clothes.

"You dancing tonight?" Mr Lowman asked, looking down at me and I nodded; I danced almost every night, "You ok I don't come? I got… stuff to do."

"Yeah sure," I shrugged, "I understand. Your stuff's more important than I am. I get it."

He nudged me with his elbow and laughed. I was happy he understood that it was a joke. I grabbed onto his arm when he made me stumble over my heels and almost into the road which made him laugh and hold onto me. Every now and again as we walked he would bump my shoulder but not enough to make me stumble again and I would try and bump him back but he literally never moved from the line he was walking in. It wasn't fair. No matter how hard I tried he just wouldn't budge.

I said goodbye to him at the end of the street. I was going home to go back to sleep and he was going to work.

"Enjoy your _stuff_ ," I said, bitterly but joking, "see you later."

"I'm gonna."

He said it with a weird smile on his face which made me wonder what it was. Did he have a date? Was he meeting a girl? He looked kind of happy so I guessed it might have been.

"Call me when you get home tonight," he called after me when I started walking down the street, "ok? I wanna know you're home."

Whenever he didn't walk me home he made me either call or text him when I got back to Mr Chibs' house so he knew I was safe. And if I ever forgot he would either call my phone until I answered or if he was already out he would come to the house to check. I would always get told off when I answered the door. First, he would tell me off for answering the door at 4am when I didn't know who it was (even though I always knew it was him), then he would lecture me. He wouldn't shout because Mr and Mrs Chibs were asleep upstairs but I would have to wait until he had stopped telling me off so I could invite him in.

"I will!" I called back and turned to wave at him, smiling.

Mr Lowman was literally the most adorable person I had ever met and I loved him a lot.

(((((((())))))))

The girls in the dressing room had been whispering literally since I had come in and whenever I would look at them they would turn away and go silence. It was weird because they all liked me before I started dancing (when I helped them and stuff) but now literally none of them would even talk to me except for Bambi. It just meant I was really lonely when Bambi wasn't dancing. Sometimes I was sure they even stole some of my stuff for an entire night then I would magically find it on my dressing table. One time they took my shoes so I had to call Bambi and ask if I could borrow some of hers for the night. That was annoying because her feet were bigger than me.

The only thing that I could hear them saying was something about a "comb killer". Like, asking if the Comb Killer would be in that night which meant literally nothing to me. All I could think of was maybe it was someone with hair that was hard to comb? Maybe Mr Bobby? But I had never told any of Mr Lowman's friends that I was a dancer. Then I wondered why they wanted the guy to be in. Did he have a lot of money or something? I spent the entire night looking for a guy with the crazy hair but couldn't see any in the club.

When I first started dancing I thought it was just going to be dancing but it so wasn't. Bambi told me that the guys would talk to you about their lives and stuff but I didn't expect I would basically be a therapist. They would just tell me about their wives and girlfriends and all the debts they were in. I didn't really know what to say to them so I just listened and made the right noises when they wanted me to agree with them. As it turns out though, when you listened to them and asked questions; pretending you cared and were interested in them, they would pay you more so I continued to do it. Most of the stuff they would say was the most boring things you've ever heard but other times I overheard some really interesting stuff like people selling drugs and even _guns_. I always wondered if I should have gone to the police or something but I wasn't brave enough. I told Mr Lowman though because he seemed interested in it but I also made him promise not to go to the police.

"-setting up a new business in Nevada," I heard one man say into his phone when I was walking over to offer him a dance, "but we need to get the sons out."

"Hey there," I said to him, putting my hand onto his shoulder and stroked down his arm, "why don't you put the phone away and have some fun?"

"Hold on Alex, I've had an offer I can't refuse. I'll see you tomorrow."

I smiled at him and sat across his lap, took the phone out of his hand with a laugh and hung up for him. I slid it in the front pocket of his shirt then patting it gently. The man smirked back at me but it wasn't as attractive as when Mr Lowman smirked. Like, this guy made me feel weird. He slipped his wallet out of his pocket and I watched while he pulled out a whole wad of dollar bills. I felt my face lighting up as he counted it out.

"If I give you $100," he asked me, "would you dance for me?"

"Of course honey," I nodded and swiped some curls away from my face, "where would you like me to keep it?"

Men liked it when you asked them that because it made them think that I cared what they wanted and they got to touch me when normally they wouldn't be allowed. Surprisingly, he only lifted my bra strap and slid the money underneath it. I uncrossed my legs and stood up, turned to him and started to dance. Although he was kind of creepy, he behaved himself well and didn't touch me after that. He breathed heavily every time I touched his face and arms which was literally the most off putting thing in the world but not weird.

"You're setting up a new business in Las Vegas?" I asked him as I danced, "What are you doing?"

"Oh… I can't really say anything," he told me with another sly smile, "but it's top secret and very important. You can trust me on that."

"You're important then, huh?"

"You like rich, important men Duchess?"

"They're my _favourite_."

He smiled at my answer as the song ended and I touched his cheek. I _did_ like rich and important men because they reminded me of being at home with Daddy and all of his friends again. They would always call me nice names and give me presents when we went for dinner with them. It was like having loads of dad's. I waved at him as I walked over to another man who was holding his wallet. But while I danced for other people I could feel the rich man's eyes on me the entire time.

Hours later, at 2am, I was packing up my stuff to get ready to leave while I listened to the other girls talking.

"I wonder why he didn't come in tonight," Kitty whispered to Honey, "because he's normally here when _she's_ in."

"Because he's probably doing his _real_ job. The Comb Killer, you know?"

I could barely hear them but they were talking about that guy again. Was he a hairstylist? I didn't get the obsession but I wasn't going to ask them when they were rude to me all the time. Zipping my money bag up and throwing it into my dance bag I was finally ready to leave. It had been a long night and I literally couldn't wait to get into bed.

I left the club with a yawn and didn't notice the two guys stood across the street until I had been walking for a few minutes. I know I was being paranoid but I pulled my phone out of my dance bag and held it tightly in my hands just in case I needed to call the police. I kept walking at my normal pace so it didn't look like I suspected them of anything but my eyes were darting to them every now and again. At first when they fell behind me I felt relieved until I saw their shadows crossing the street so they could follow me. My heart was now beating so hard I could feel it in my ears and I had tears in my throat. With shaky hands I started to dial a number. At first I thought about the police but then my thumbs started to automatically dial Mr Lowman's. I knew he was probably with a girl or something but in my panicked thoughts I couldn't think of any other number I could call.

He answered on the first ring but I was too scared to say anything, just breathed heavily as I tried to stop myself from crying. I could hear the footsteps of the two men behind me getting closer so I turned around to face them; letting them know that I could see their faces and could pick them out if I did go to the police.

"Catherine?" Mr Lowman asked, sounding immediately worried, "Are you ok?"

"Go away!" I shouted at the men, "Stop following me!"

All the guys did was laugh. I didn't recognise them from the club so I don't think they were guests; they were just people that hung around outside the club.

"Where are you?" Mr Lowman asked and I could hear him moving around and the jingle of a chain.

"Oakwood Street," I whispered too him.

"Keep looking at them. Get under a street light. Don't worry. I'm coming."

I walked backwards until I was under the large circle of light. The two men just stood slightly away from the light, grinning at me but the sound of Mr Lowman walking and talking quietly to me through the phone gave me something to think about other than the two scary men that stood in front of me. There was something wrong with them. They looked… weird.

"My friend's on his way," I told them, "and he's big and scary and he's gonna hurt you if you don't leave me alone."

The fact that they had said anything was somehow scarier than if they were catcalling me. I never thought that would happen but it was the way they were just stood, still and silent, but the minute they walked forwards into the light I gasped and stumbled backwards over my feet and landed on my butt. The phone fell out of my hands and my bag slipped off my shoulder and onto the floor. I hadn't zipped it back up when I had got my phone so my money bag fell out and the lighters that I had hidden in the bottom skittered across the concrete.

One of the guys, the shorter one, came close enough to crouch over me.

"Do you want money?" I stammered and tried to reach for the bag, looking up at him with wide eyes, "Here. Take it. Please. Just- just leave me alone."

I wasn't feeling brave anymore. I was shaking and trying to get away from him.

"Where's your big, scary friend?" The tall man asked in a fake high-pitched voice that mocked mine, "Has he given up on you?"

"Big, scary friend," the other one echoed with a laugh, "where is-"

Then I heard a shout from behind me and before I could turn around to look at who it was, panicking that it was a third man that wanted to hurt me, a large white blur flew over me and knocked the man backwards. I screamed and shuffled backwards when I registered what it was. It was Scrap with his jaws clenched over the guys shoulder, growling and shaking him violently while the man screamed. I could see the blood staining his beautiful white fur. The running footsteps behind me didn't scare me because I knew Mr Lowman was here.

Suddenly, Mr Lowman ran passed with the chain leash in one hand and something else in the other. He hit the other man across the face with the chain then wrapped it around his neck; forcing him to kneel down in front of his friend that was now unmoving, covered in blood with a large, heavy white dog on top of him.

"Chill out, dude," the guy said as he clawed at the chain around his neck, "we weren't gonna hurt her, we just wanted to… play."

I was breathing heavily in fear and finally let the tears fall down my cheeks. Mr Lowman looked so scary like that. He was only wearing a white tank top and jeans instead of his usual t-shirt and leather vest so I knew I had got him out of bed. Just as the man was starting to lose consciousness he released the chain and threw it to the side. That was when I noticed what the other object in his hand was; it was a knife. He pulled the man's head back by his hair and put the knife on his throat.

The thing that really scared me was that he was smiling but it wasn't a nice smile. It was a scary, frightening smile that I felt would probably give me nightmares. He looked like he was enjoying it.

"Why don't you play with me?" He growled quietly and tugged on his hair again.

The man had blood running down from a large gash on his forehead from where he had been hit with the chain. He was pulled back out of the circle of light but he couldn't escape, even though he tried, because Mr Lowman's knife was on his neck. Part of me wanted to get up and run away from him because he was terrifying me but I was frozen. I could only see the shadows of Mr Lowman and the man. Mr Lowman stood up and away from the other guy; letting him up and run away. I could see Mr Lowman turn around to watch the guy stumbling away. When he walked back into the light he didn't look at me; just picked up the leash and clipped it onto Scrap's collar. Then he came over and started putting all the stuff back in my bag for me. I didn't even register that he was picking up the lighters without asking questions about why I had so many.

"Go to Momma," he said to Scrap who had stayed sat on the other man even though he had his leash attached, gesturing to me.

Scrap stood and walked over to me, the chain scraping across the sidewalk, then nuzzled my hand. Shakily, I stroked his head then I just started crying in relief, in fear, just… everything. Scrap had blood covering his mouth, his chest and his front paws. I sobbed quietly, wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him. The big dog, that had probably just killed someone, put his big head on my shoulder and whined quietly.

"Hey," Mr Lowman murmured and I felt his hand on my back, "come on."

I looked up at him. His face was completely different to how it was when he was fighting with the man. He didn't look angry at all anymore; he actually looked kind and worried. I still couldn't believe what happened. When I called him I had expected he would maybe just threaten them or something not… nearly kill them. I hesitated to stand up and Mr Lowman's face fell slightly. He stepped back and waited until I had stopped shaking so much. When I could let go of Scrap, Mr Lowman offered his hand to me to help me to stand up but didn't let go of my hand once I was on my feet.

"Sorry if I scared you."

"Not if," I whispered and shook my head, looking down at our sneakers, "not if, Mr Lowman."

He ducked to look at me, putting his hand on my cheek and making me look at him. The shock of him doing that made me completely unable to stop it. He was so gentle with me, like he always was, not like with that man.

"I'm sorry," he said, nodding and his eyes searching my face.

"I just… wanna go home… Please."

Mr Lowman nodded again and put the bag over his shoulder before picking up the handle of the leash and handing it to me so I could walk back with Scrap. As we walked, Mr Lowman pulled his phone out of his pocket and talked quickly to Mr Chibs.

"Yeah, she's not hurt… I've got her. I'm bringing her home," he said, "you can stop worrying."

He put the phone away and walked beside me in silence. I was gripping Scrap's leash really tightly in my hands to stop them from shaking. I couldn't believe what I had just seen; he was so scary and vicious and violent. That wasn't him. He wasn't like that. Mr Lowman was a nice man, a good man that was kind to me. That wasn't _my_ Mr Lowman.

As soon as I rounded the corner of the street I could see the door of Mr Chibs' house open with a figure stood against the hall light. I felt tears in my throat when I saw Romeo running towards us through the street lights. He jumped up at Scrap, wagging his little curly tail and bouncing around. Romeo didn't care that his best friend was covered in blood; he was just happy to see him. Scrap bent his massive head down to say hello. When I walked closer I saw Mr Chibs standing in the doorway with his arms folded and his eyebrows furrowed.

"It's not mine," I whispered to him when he looked at my blood covered clothes, giving him the handle of the leash and pushing passed him to run up the stairs.

I needed to shower the blood off of myself. I didn't know if Mr Lowman would stay or not but right now I just needed to be on my own.

((((((((()))))))

After I felt cleaner and had calmed down I got out of the shower and went downstairs. I pulled the big shirt down a bit further when I saw Mr Lowman sat in the armchair with Romeo on his lap and Scrap's bloody chin on his knee. He looked so soft. Scrap looked cleaner too; like he had been washed. Mr Chibs was sat on the edge of my bed so it looked like they had been talking. When I coughed Mr Chibs stood up and walked towards me.

"I'm gonna leave you to talk, alright? I'll be upstairs." Mr Chibs said, kissing the top of my head as he walked by.

"Night Daddy," I whispered.

"Goodnight Sweetheart."

Mr Lowman was smirking when he looked at me which made me feel only slightly more self-conscious than I already did. I know I did dancing as a job but it was different in the club; I felt different when I had all the makeup on and the hair extensions in. When I was Duchess I was brave and cool and sexy but as Catherine I felt awkward and shy about being almost naked in front of people.

"Hey," Mr Lowman said when Mr Chibs' footsteps had gone all the way up the stairs and into his bedroom.

"Are you gonna explain that?"

I pointed towards the door, as if to gesture back to where he had just brutally attacked the two scary men. He sighed and stayed quiet while I sat down on my bed then faced him. I looked at him, trying to stay calm and waited while he thought about what he was going to say.

"Didn't want them to hurt you," was all he said with a shrug.

"Yeah but-"

"When I was a kid, 17, I went to juvie. I didn't get out until I was your age."

I didn't know what to say. Juvie? Somehow I couldn't imagine Mr Lowman as a kid. But I could see him as someone who had been to prison. As soon as I saw him for the first time I knew he was a criminal. I had just been lying to myself that he was a completely innocent man because he was so kind. I also knew that good people did bad things sometimes as well though, I wasn't that stupid. You could literally tell just by looking at him that he had been to prison. And the way that he had attacked those men looked way too easy for him; like he had done that before. People aren't just violent out of nowhere.

"It was for selling drugs," he continued when I didn't say anything, "Ma never had much money and I wanted to help her. No one hires kids. This guy down the street sold weed and was looking for more kids to run for him."

I suspected there was more to the story. Back in home kids didn't even get arrested for selling weed because their parents just bailed them out but I knew him and his mom struggled for money so he couldn't have done that but still.

"Then I got bigger. People are scared of me so I started my own racket. Made me lots of cash and helped Ma pay the bills and bought her stuff. Got busted when I was 17."

"Then what?" I asked shakily which making him look up at me as I fiddled with the hem of my shirt, "You don't go to prison for 6 years just for that."

"There was this kid," he spoke quietly and his face darkened, "a nazi shithead. I hated him. _Everyone_ hated him. The things he did to the other kids…" he shook his head and looked away, "I had too. No one else did anything about him."

Had too… what? No I was scared but I think I knew the answer. I could hear my heart beating in my ears and feel it everywhere that I had a pulse. I felt like crying.

"Stole a screwdriver from the shop class. Got him in the stomach and the throat 'round the back of the building. They kept me away from the rest of the kids sent me to the adult prison when I was 19."

"I bet that was really scary," I whispered, trying to keep the tears out of my voice but I knew it wasn't working.

His arms tightened around Romeo and for a second I was worried he would suffocate him but then I realised what he was doing. He was cuddling him in the same way that I did when I was sad or scared or nervous and I knew that, despite his serious and scary face, he was upset. His strong, tattooed arms circles around my little dog and Mr Lowman looked at me steadily for a couple of seconds. The silence was heavy before he clenched his jaw and nodded.

I know he had literally just told me that he had killed someone, a kid, but that didn't stop him being my best friend. I stopped messing with the hem of my shirt, leaving it wrinkled, and stretched my hand out to him. Almost immediately after I did he stood up, took two steps and was sat beside me. Romeo jumped onto the bed when Mr Lowman let me put my arms around him and cuddled him closely. He let out a long, heavy breath as if he had been holding it for a long time as he settled into my hug. He had gotten better at hugs since I had met him and I took full responsibility for that; I hugged him and everyone all the time so he had no choice but to practise being good at affection.

"I'm still scared of you," I murmured to him, putting my hand on his cheek while looked over his face, "but that was a long time ago, right? It's different now."

He didn't say anything, just put his head down before leaning to put his head on my shoulder so I could hug him closer. I couldn't help the small smile from coming onto my mouth as he kind of snuggled closer.

"Are you staying over?"

"Can't," Mr Lowman said and shook his head, "Ma's not doing so good today."

Suddenly I felt so selfish and guilty. It was like my stomach dropped to my knees and I just felt so bad. Why didn't I think of that? I knew he looked after his mom and I still called him when I was scared. I should have just called Mr Chibs or Mr Kozik, Mr Juice even but the only person I could think of was him.

"Sorry! I didn't even think- I should have- I know she's important and-"

He chuckled and pushed me away but put his hand on the side of my neck with his thumb on my cheek. He was smiling slightly as he shook his head and leaned in closer to me.

"You're important too," he said then kind of awkwardly pulled me forwards to kiss my forehead.

I closed my eyes when his lips made contact with my skin and clenched my hand tightly. He had never kissed me before. But then, for some reason something else entirely entered my head. It was like I didn't hear it until just then.

"You called me Momma," I said and he pulled back slightly, "and Scrap knew who I was."

His smirk turned sheepish then he shrugged, "Romeo knows you're his Momma. Scrap picked it up."

"You call me Momma even when I'm not there?"

He pulled a face but it was obvious that the heavy atmosphere from earlier had almost gone. I hadn't forgotten though and I'm pretty sure that I would be having nightmares for at least a couple of nights.

"Make sure you lock the door behind me," he said, not answering my question.

I narrowed my eyes at him but nodded and stood up with him. I followed him to the front door, saying goodbye to Scrap and thanking him for coming to help me with Mr Lowman. Romeo trotted to the door so I picked him up.

"Say goodbye to Daddy," I said to him, smirking over his head at Mr Lowman who rolled his eyes, then picking up his paw and making him wave.

"Nah. You call me Papi."

"Papi." I echoed in confusion.

His eyes darkened again and the smile on his face was different again but he didn't say anything; just nodded again, touched my cheek then turned to leave with Scrap trotting next to him. I shut the door then locked it, like he told me too, before going back into the living room. We sat on the bed, Romeo whining because his friend had left, but I felt like I wouldn't be able to sleep. Whenever I did fall asleep I kept seeing Scrap almost eating that man and the way Mr Lowman looked so happy when he was strangling the other one. I'm sure my imagination was making it way worse than it actually was but it was still scary. Even though he frightened me I still wanted to be really selfish and wanted him to stay over. He stayed over so much lately that I had started to feel lonely without him. I cuddled Romeo to try and make myself less lonely.

When I did eventually fall asleep I had a nightmare. It was Mr Lowman again but it wasn't what I thought it would be. It was the other way around. He was being attacked by two men and I tried to help, to get the men off of him but it was like I didn't exist. My hands just went through them and I couldn't pull him away so I just had to listen to him shouting and I had to watch him die. That was when the image of Daddy came back into my mind except instead of just Daddy in the back of the car, Mr Lowman was there too. It was like I couldn't stop myself setting the fire and when I tried to leave my feet stayed planted in the dirt so all I could see was Mr Lowman burning away. Then, from behind me I heard Uncle Jerry's voice saying, "Good girl Catherine."

It felt so real that I woke up sweating and crying; breathing heavily and shaking. I sat up quickly and looked around. It was still dark but I felt like I was being watched. I don't know if that was real or not but I didn't want to risk it so I stood up really fast and ran up the stairs to get into Mr Chibs' room. I didn't even care if he and Mrs Chibs were doing couple stuff because, unlike before, I just didn't want to be alone.

They were still asleep, cuddled up together and completely unaware of how terrifying it was.

"Catherine?" Mrs Chibs asked tiredly, like she had just woken up, "Is that you? Are you alright?"

I couldn't speak, only whimpered and sniffed. In the light coming from the moon outside I saw her nudge Mr Chibs awake. He spluttered as he was elbowed in the stomach then asked her what she wanted irritably.

"Sorry," I whispered, putting my arms around my waist and hugged myself, "I just- I had a real bad nightmare and… I thought someone was downstairs but I don't know and- I was just scared. I don't know."

"Come on," Mr Chibs said with a smile in his voice, "Come sleep with Dad and Mum."

Mrs Chibs chuckled and moved over so there was a small gap that looked like it might fit me in it. I felt kind of weird because I hadn't done this since I was a kid but I just really needed comforting and I didn't want to call Mr Lowman again. I climbed up on the mattress and squeezed myself in between them. Mr Chibs kissed the back of my head and put his arm over me and reached over so that he was cuddling Mrs Chibs as well.

"I'm sorry, Mr Chibs."

"I got my girls." he said quietly, "As long as you're both happy I'm happy. Now go back to sleep and I'll get you up later."

I nodded and didn't say anything else. When I went to sleep this time I didn't have any nightmares but I still couldn't shake the feeling that I was being watched.

(((((((())))))))

 **Yoooooooooo!-** What do we think kiddos? Happy is perhaps starting to open up.

Do we think someone was watching her _or_ was it just her imagination?

How will her house hunting go? Will Catherine get her pool?

Who were those guys? Just random creeps or something else?

Who was the man on the phone?

All this and more in the next chapter of Duchess…

Sorry my old love of Saturday morning cartoons just came back to me.

I hope you enjoyed it and I'll see you in the next one!

Love, Doe xxxxxxxx


	18. Chapter 17 - Donati

Chapter 17 – Donati

Happy rarely had nightmares. Things that gave normal people nightmares weren't the sort of things that gave him nightmares. However there was one thing that terrified him more than anything and that was his loved ones being in danger without him being capable of saving them. For this reason, almost every time he had gone to sleep since Catherine had been followed he had had a nightmare about it. The nightmare always played out differently in the end; sometimes he found nothing but a cellphone on the ground where she said she was; sometimes she was on the ground and not moving; sometimes he was watching her being hurt and was unable to do anything about it, like he didn't exist. Every time he woke up his heart would be racing, his breathing would be heavy and Scrap would be lying across his legs almost as if he knew about the nightmare.

"Are you alright, Mijo?" Mama asked him as she watched him pouring himself some fresh coffee, "You look sick."

"Nah," Happy said, shaking his head and fighting back a yawn, "I'm good."

Happy got his threatening, hard glare from his mother; a glare that was now being directed at him and making him shrink back slightly against the kitchen counter. No one scared him quite like his mother, not even Gemma. Mama had been the one to try and keep him in line when he was a child after his father had left and he respected her for it; she hadn't given up on him like his father had.

"Just tired," he elaborated with a shrug.

"Happy Lowman," Mama said slowly and he knew he was in trouble, "if you do not tell me what is wrong I'm going to call Catherine and she can get it out of you. You know I will do it."

The _ultimate_ threat. Mama knew he couldn't refuse anything Catherine asked of him and she would use this to her advantage. He got his talent for interrogation from his mother too although her techniques were perhaps slightly less violent than his.

"Ma…" trying to reason with her was useless but that didn't mean he wouldn't try but the when she reached for the phone he caved and put his coffee on the counter behind him, "I'm just not sleeping. Please don't call her."

"Bad dreams?" Mama frowned and placed the phone back on the small dining table.

Happy nodded slowly and folded his arms uncomfortably. Mama had been awake and waiting for him to get home in the morning only to see their family pet covered in blood so there was no way he could have hidden what he had done from her. He had told her about it; the phone call, the attack, and the conversation he had had with Catherine afterwards, how she had been the first person to validate the feeling of fear when he had to switch prisons… the way she had held him afterwards. He hated being soft and vulnerable but it was different with Catherine; she made him feel more comfortable about it and didn't laugh at him like he thought she would.

"Oh Mijo… she is safe."

"I know."

It didn't help though because when he slept he wasn't able to save her. The only thing that would calm him was when he stayed with her after she had danced for him; when he opened his eyes he would see her sleeping peacefully beside him, curled up on her pillow. He would confirm that she was safe by touching her hair or her hand before being able to get back to sleep. But he couldn't sleep with her every night regardless of how much he wanted too. Vulnerable wasn't something he was ever going to be happy about.

"I'll be back later," Happy said to his mother after a long silence, "love you."

"I love you too Mijo. Have a good day."

Happy nodded and slid the kutte over his shoulders so he could go to the meeting Clay had called that morning. He didn't mind going into the clubhouse on his days off but on that day he would have preferred to have just gone back to sleep or maybe fix the fence in the backyard and the leaky faucet in the bathroom. They were jobs he had been meaning to do for a while but just never got around to it for whatever reason. It looked like they were going to have to wait a bit longer.

He backed his Harley into the line on the forecourt and started walking towards the clubhouse when Juice ran towards him looking excited.

"You gotta see this Man," he said to Happy, "it'll blow your mind!"

Happy raised his eyebrows in surprise at how energetic Juice was that morning. They walked together towards the clubhouse and into the chapel to see the guys already sat. They didn't look excited like Juice did. In fact they looked serious and almost frightened. It must be serious. There was a laptop open in front of Happy's seat and on the screen there looked to be a family photo. Happy didn't recognise the people in the picture and looked around in confusion.

"What's this?" He asked, pointing to the screen.

"You don't recognise anyone?" Juice asked, almost bouncing in his seat and Happy shook his head, "Look closer. I didn't recognise her either but it's been ages since I last saw her. And the bandages and stuff."

His eyes scoured the photo for a familiar face then he was drawn to a pretty blonde teenager who was smiling and holding a cute toddler with big grey eyes and a mess blonde curls. It was Mrs Duke-Dillinger as a teenager and Catherine looked to be about 2 or 3 years old. When Happy lifted his hand to point speechlessly at the image Juice nodded excitedly. There was someone else Happy recognised too. Greta. She had her arm around Catherine's mom's shoulder and smiling proudly. On the other side was a tall, slim man with grey eyes and grey hair in a sharp suit and shiny black shoes.

"She had Catherine when she was a kid," Chibs said to Happy, almost gently as if not to upset the Tacoma Killer, "she was only 15. Those people are Luca and Greta Donati, her grandparents."

"Luca Donati," Clay said in a less gentle tone with clenched hands on the table, "is the head of the Donati crime family out of Queens and Brooklyn. They're Italian mafia."

Happy's stomach dropped to his knees when he thought of all of the problems they had caused for the Duke-Dillinger family over the time they had been in Charming. Over a matter of 8 months they had destroyed their new houses and extorted all of their money from them. Had they known they had connections to the Italian mafia they wouldn't have been so brash and obvious about who it was that had ruined their lives.

"We need you to ask the girl about it," Clay continued, "and see what she knows."

"Catherine doesn't know anything," Happy told him and shook his head, finally looking up at his president.

"Sounds about right," Bobby laughed then stopped when Happy looked at him furiously.

"I'm not spying on her Clay. I can't. She's my… friend."

Clay sat back in his chair and laughed. Happy had never directly refused an order before but Catherine was his friend and she trusted him more than she trusted anyone else in the town. She had told him as much even after he had terrified her.

"We know exactly what she is," Clay said humourlessly, "and we all think you've gone far enough. Your little breakfast dates and dog walking isn't getting you any closer to taking that virgin pussy. Give it up."

Kozik put his hand on Happy's shoulder as he trembled with anger. It wasn't just anger though; it was a white hot rage that he had never felt directed towards another club member before. Clay recognised the look in Happy's eyes and shuffled in his chair uncomfortably as he realised he had made a mistake. Hearing anyone talk about Catherine, the girl Happy adored, like she was nothing but pussy and a mouth was one of the things that he couldn't stand. Catherine being a virgin was something that excited a lot of the guys in and around the club.

"She's never mentioned New York," Chibs cut in quickly, "unless she's talking about a vacation she's taken. They went for New Years a couple of years ago. That's it. Nothing else."

"What about her family?" Jax asked, shifting his eyes from Happy and Clay to Chibs.

"Nothing. 'Daddy, Mom and Jack' are all she talks about. That's it. She doesn't know she has anyone else. Duke-Dillinger's ma died a few years ago."

"Who's her dad?" Happy asked suddenly as the realisation hit him and he couldn't believe he hadn't considered this when she talked to him about it, "Her mom had her when she was a kid. Didn't meet Duke-Dillinger until she was 20."

"Some… politician," Juice shrugged and dragged the computer back over to him, "that got into deep shit when he had sex with a minor but wasn't arrested. He paid them to have her aborted but it obviously didn't happen. He's dead now. 'Suspicious circumstances'."

They all knew what that meant. The fear that the family could have a politician assassinated meant jack shit for a biker gang in a small town in California.

Juice clicked a few different things on the screen then smirked slightly when he slid the laptop back over to Happy. On the screen were a series of images that must have been Catherine as she grew up. Chibs also looked over his shoulder and chuckled at the one Happy clicked. She was dancing. There was a fake plastic crown on top of her messy hair, fairy wings on her back and a ballet dress over pink and white striped leggings. Despite the situation, and his previous anger, Happy felt a small smile appear onto his face. He flicked through the other photographs of her getting older. It moved from family photos in New York to ones of her on her own in LA. Cornelia must have sent them to her father. One picture that tugged at Happy's heart, through pageant photos and photos of her and her family at parties and events, was the one of her posing jokily beside an ambulance wearing a dark blue uniform with a badge on her arm that specified that she was an EMT, tough looking work boots and her hair pulled back like always was when she had left the club after a night of dancing.

"There's only one," Happy said quietly, as he moved through the other pictures.

"They weren't as proud of her in the ambulance as they were when she was winning them money," Chibs told him.

Happy was proud of her though; he made a note to himself that he would tell her that.

"After they killed this guy," Juice said while Happy continued to look through the various images, "Cornelia changed hers and Catherine's names to Dillinger instead of Donati and they moved to LA with Greta. I guess they thought it would be safer than being in New York with all the feds looking over the family. Guess when her birthday is."

Happy looked up at him and shrugged. She had never told him about her birthday date, just the parties she had had.

"November 2nd."

The same as Happy's. He had never mentioned his birthday to her either and he could only imagine the excitable arm slaps he would receive when he told her. She would insist on a joined party, he just knew it.

"She really doesn't know anything? What about the boy?" Jax asked.

"Nah," Happy shook his head, "he's never said anything either. Wasn't even born until they she was 8. They would've been in LA by then."

Jack knew something though. Happy always had a feeling that Jack was hiding something from his sister but there was no way of knowing what that was.

"We need to talk to the mom."

Happy nodded and the meeting ended. As the men filed out of the chapel they collected their phones and Happy smiled at his wallpaper as it flashed up when he checked for any missed calls or texts. Catherine had been horrified when she had seen the default background one morning and had forced him to take a picture of her, Romeo and Scrap so she could set it for him. It always made him smile when he saw it.

Suddenly, the peace of the morning was interrupted by the sound of cars skidding to a halt in the forecourt and shouting.

"Cops!" One of the mechanics shouted to warn the club.

And he was correct but it wasn't Charming PD; it was San Joaquin County. They shouted, guns out and pointing at the men, shouting for them to get out of the clubhouse and on the ground. Outside, Gemma and Viv were stood facing the wall with cuffs around their wrists and officers keeping them there. They were just chatting, seemingly unbothered by the situation, but looked over to their men as they lay down.

"Filip Telford," the sheriff said, "we are arresting you on suspicion of the kidnap of Catherine Duke-Dillinger. You do not have to say anything-"

"Fuck off," Chibs laughed and looked at Happy in confusion.

The officers started to cuff the men as they argued about the charge only to be told they were being arrested for being accomplices in the crime. Happy frowned and fought against the cuffs. Kidnap? Was this her family taking them out or-

"Excuse me?!" A familiar, voice said angrily, "What on _earth_ are you doing?"

Catherine appeared out of the work bay. Happy was immediately worried about her but he knew the cops wouldn't do anything to her. She had her arms folded as she stormed over to the officer with an angry look on her face. Happy thought she was adorable when she was angry.

"Stay back, Ma'am," the cop said, "this is a police matter. If you don't want to be arrested I suggest you go home."

"I can't go home. You've got the people I live with in handcuffs."

Kozik turned his head to look over at Happy and smirked when he saw his face. Happy liked it when she was bratty.

"Ma'am-"

"Don't 'Ma'am' me! I am Catherine Duke-Dillinger! Do I look kidnapped?!" she held her wrists out to prove she wasn't tied up, "Am I in danger?"

"Wait-"

"If you don't untie these men _immediately_ I will call my daddy's lawyers and get you and your entire department fired!"

When the guy froze, Catherine took her phone out of her handbag and started to swipe through it. She tapped her high-heeled foot on the ground as she put the phone to her ear.

"Don't worry Mr Chibs," she said to him, "I'll sort this mess out. Daddy has the best lawyer in California. Yes, hello? Mr Emerson? It's Catherine."

"Ma'am-"

Catherine put her hand up to stop the man talking and continued to speak to the lawyer about things that Happy didn't even know she knew about. She was using words like, false arrest, probable cause, unlawful detainment and warrant. The officer repeatedly tried to interrupt her but she continued talking louder with her hand still in his face and refusing to look at him until he finally gave in and ordered for his men to start uncuffing the men on the floor and the two women at the wall.

"There has obviously been a mistake," he told her submissively, "we'll review the report and speak to the caller again. We apologise."

With a triumphant smile, Catherine thanked the man on the other end of the phone and hung up. She didn't say anything to the officer; just immediately went over to Chibs and helped him to his feet kindly before turning and surprising everyone to help Clay. She took his arm and allowed him to lean on her while he stood stiffly. She treated him like he wasn't a biker gang president and spoke to him like he was any other old man.

"Are you ok, Mr Morrow?" Catherine asked in concern with her eyebrows furrowed and dusting off the front of his kutte for him, "They shouldn't treat you like that. It's not fair."

"I'm… yeah. Fine." Clay replied gruffly, just as shocked as everyone else.

Catherine nodded then seemed to look over all of the men before walking through the group and watching the police cars leave with a smug smile on her face and her arms folded over her chest.

"How did you do that?" Juice asked incredulously as they all dusted themselves off.

"You just gotta be pretty, rich and not let them speak. Wins arguments with guys all the time," Catherine shrugged and turned to face them, "Is everyone alright? I bet that was Uncle Jerry's call. Mom wouldn't have called the cops if she knew I was safe."

"What are you doing here?" Clay asked sceptically.

"Oh! I um… I brought you guys breakfast. I was just giving your guys that were working on the cars some when they arrived."

When they all looked over to the work bay they saw the mechanics with takeout containers in their hands and eating various foods with plastic cutlery. Happy smiled slightly when he noticed the bags of food on one of the picnic benches.

"I got us pancakes," she said to Happy, the first time she had acknowledged him, "come on. I got you bacon on yours because I know you like it."

As they sat together, eating and talking, Clay realised something that the rest of the club had known for a long time. Happy _liked_ Catherine. Happy Lowman, The Tacoma Killer, was _flirting_ with the young, blonde girl. He was pushing her, nudging her as they sat together which made her laugh and shout at him. When he wasn't flirting he had his arm crossed over her back and his hand on the seat on the other side with his body turned towards her and her body turned towards his. They liked each other.

"That's gonna be trouble," Clay murmured to Jax and nodding to where Happy was teasing Catherine with his bacon, "if the Donati's find out."

"If you were the Italian mafia," Tig said when he overheard their conversation, "would you rather have Hap watching over your daughter or some rich LA boy that don't even know how to wash his own ass?"

"They've been following her; they probably already know who we are and who he is." Jax agreed, "If they were worried they would have done something by now."

Clay hummed doubtfully but couldn't disagree. They had killed a politician and a lot of other high profile people in New York; SAMCRO probably wouldn't stand much of a chance.

 **HMMMMMMMMM-** A short but necessary chapter! What do we think?

How much does Jack know? What will Catherine think when she inevitably finds out? Does Clay actually like Catherine now? What do we think of the whole club knowing that Happy likes Catherine?

What will their joined birthday party be like?!

Anyway! I will see you in the next one! See you soon!

Lots of love,

From,

Doe


	19. Chapter 18 - Good Butt Jeans

Chapter 18 – Good Butt Jeans

 _(I'm just telling you now, this is like 2 chapters in one.)_

As I slung my dance bag over my shoulder I checked my phone and left the club. I needed to let Mr Chibs know I was on my way home so he could unlock the door. There was a text from Mr Lowman on my screen, in all capital letters as usual.

'BE READY TOMORROW 8PM. WEAR JEANS SNEAKERS AND BLACK SWEATER.' Was all it said. I never really understood why he always used capital letters to text me. Maybe he thought I was blind?

'Jeans?!' I replied; tapping quickly with my thumbs but barely needing to look at the screen to type, 'UGH! Can I wear shorts instead?'

'JEANS.'

He must have been awake. He had been working tonight so he couldn't walk me home but ever since those guys attacked me he was extra paranoid about me walking home on my own. It didn't matter how many times I told him I would be ok he didn't let it go.

'What about wedges instead?"

'SNEAKERS. 8PM."

It was Mr and Mrs Chibs' anniversary tomorrow and they had a lot of couple things that they wanted to do so Mr Chibs asked Mr Lowman to 'babysit' me for the night. I had already dropped an overnight bag and Romeo over with Mrs Lowman so he could settle in; I would be completely alone for the night. I don't know what Mr Lowman had planned and he refused to tell me. Apparently it was a surprise.

The light was on when I got home and I knew Mr Chibs would be sat in the armchair waiting for me. I turned the keys in the door and basically fell through because I was so sleepy.

"Shit!" Mr Chibs exclaimed, almost spilling the coffee out of his cup and onto his lap, "I'd gotten used to Romeo telling me when you were home."

"Sorry," I whispered and slipped my sneakers off, "it's weird, huh?"

He nodded and stood up to come over and take all of my bags out of my hands. He looked curiously into my money bag and shook it so all of the bills rustled inside.

"Good haul?"

"Yeah. That businessman from Nevada was in again so," I shrugged, "he always give me loads of money. I really wanna know what he's setting up but he won't say anything. All he says is that he's going to be rich and then asks me to dinner."

"Bastard," Mr Chibs laughed and hung up my stuff on the hooks behind the door next to his skeleton man jacket, "keep working your charm; he'll open up eventually."

"They always do."

But I had literally been trying for weeks to find out what he was doing and listening to the phone calls he made but so far there was nothing. I didn't _need_ to know but not being told made me want to know even more. I was like a kid like that I guess. But I had tried literally everything. I sat on his lap, showed him my chest and put my butt basically in his face and he just didn't do anything. I wondered if maybe he was gay.

"That's my girl. Right, I'm going to bed. Make sure you text Hap to tell him your home or he'll be out here banging on the door in 10 minutes."

I nodded and let him kiss me on the head before telling him goodnight and watching him stomp up the stairs with his little slippers on. He was so cute. I turned to go into the living room to change into my pyjamas and finally flop into bed. I reached to get my phone and let Mr Lowman know I was home so we could both get to sleep. It was so cold in bed without Romeo to cuddle but it would only have to be for one night; I just had to hug my pillow until then.

(((((((())))))))

I dressed in the clothes I had been told too and hated it. I looked like a boy and I didn't have any purses that would even match my current outfit so I had to keep my phone and keys in my pockets which made it look all weird and lumpy. Is this why men didn't wear bags? Because nothing matched their boring clothes. I had to borrow a hoodie from Mr Chibs again. It was just a plain one because he said it would probably be best not to have something with their club name on it. That just made me more suspicious. Mr Chibs was wearing a suit and Mrs Chibs was wearing a pretty red dress and I gasped when I saw them together; they looked so beautiful.

"Be good for Happy," Mrs Chibs said, "don't cause too much trouble."

They looked at each other with a smile before turning to leave. I watched Mrs Chibs back the car out of the driveway and waved at them. I hope they had a nice time tonight; they deserved it. I still had about 30 minutes until I found out what it was I had to wear jeans for. There wasn't really anything I could do in 30 minutes so I literally just sat on the doorstep to wait for Mr Lowman and thinking about what we could be doing. I hated not knowing things. Suddenly I heard the sound of a motorcycle coming up the street and I looked up. He was early.

I always thought that he looked so badass and cool on his motorcycle with his helmet on and stuff. We were in matching outfits today. He didn't come up the driveway like usual and he didn't get off; he just sat there looking at me.

"They took the car," I said and pointed stupidly to the driveway, "so we can't go anywhere far."

"Come on," he gestured with his head to the back of his motorcycle, "we need to go."

"On that?" I moved my pointing finger to him.

When he turned the engine over and climbed off I noticed he was wearing a big, heavy looking backpack on his back. He wasn't wearing his jacket today, only a black hoodie the same as me. I stood to meet him still looking up with wide eyes. The thought of riding on the back of his big, scary machine was making my heart beat in my ears.

"Where's your stuff?" He asked, looking over me until I rattled my sweater pockets, "Ok."

He reached into them and took out the keys and phone to put in the backpack. One of my favourite things about our friendship was that we weren't shy around each other and he didn't think twice about stuffing his hands in my pockets like I wouldn't to him. Then, he dragged me over to his motorcycle by the front of my sweater.

"Put pegs on yesterday," he told me almost shyly when we got to it and pointed to two black stick things on the back.

Before I could say no, protest or even walk back towards the house he had walked behind me and put his arm around my stomach so he could lift me easily, as if he was just picking up Romeo, and put me on the back of his motorcycle. I shouted in surprise but at the same time I was really impressed. I put my hands on the seat in front of me to steady myself because I was worried I would fall off and look stupid in front of him. Mr Lowman didn't say anything and just grabbed my arms and looped the backpack onto my shoulders. Luckily the straps were loose enough that it rested on the seat behind me. He rooted through before I heard him zipping it up and something was put on my head then he started tucking my hair into my sweater.

"What's this?" I asked and looked up as if I could see on top of my head, "A helmet?"

He hummed and made sure the bag was secure on my shoulders before coming around to face me. He smiled when he saw me looking up at him from under the wonky helmet then reached out to tighten it under my chin where I could feel his leather gloves brushing on my skin.

"If you kill me," I warned him and moved the helmet so it felt more comfortable, "I'm gonna be so mad."

Mr Lowman just rolled his eyes and carefully climbed on, making sure he didn't kick me, and reached behind him so he could grab behind my knees and pull me so I was close to him. I squeaked and gripped onto his sweater tightly. I held him with my knees and wrapped my arms fully over his stomach. He tilted the machine and did something with his feet before turning it on. I was pretty sure that he would be able to feel my heart beating against his back and how much I was shaking both with fear and excitement. I gripped onto his hoodie as if that would keep me balanced. When it started moving I held my breath and squeezed my eyes shut.

Eventually, when I did relax, I had fun although I could see why he said I had to wear jean; it was kind of cold. I liked seeing all the buildings and cars going by quickly and he was a really good driver so I stopped being scared quickly. We zoomed smoothly through the traffic and around the corners. I still didn't know where we were going but I also didn't really care. I recognised the street where he lived but then didn't stop when we passed his house. Now I was confused. I thought we might be going to his house he took me streets and streets away to a quiet neighbourhood where all the houses had big yards. They weren't big houses but they were spread so far apart that it made them look huge.

We stopped down another side road that didn't have any street lights and the silence when he turned off the engine hurt my ears.

"What are we-"

But he shushed me and stood up. I wasn't happy about being shushed and glared at him but I doubted he could even see me it was so dark.

"Come on," he whispered and unclipped his helmet, waited for me to struggle with mine and then helped me off.

When I stood up I almost staggered back because I had forgotten about the bag on my back and it was so heavy. He laughed and grabbed my arms so I could steady myself. I'm pretty sure it weighed more than me. He didn't let go of my arm and took me further down the dark street. He didn't even need to hold me because I was hugging his arm really tightly. I didn't understand how a street could be so dark when the one just next to it was at least kind of lit up. I felt the ground under my feet go from concrete to dusty and rocky. I could kind of see some trees against the stars. Was he taking me out here to murder me? I don't think I had done anything to make him angry.

I couldn't even talk; I was so nervous so I just clung to his arm until I saw a building in the distance. It looked like a really run down house. Mr Lowman pulled a torch out of his pocket and shone it over so I could see the tall fence that surrounded it. Beyond the fence was a small, abandoned looking house with the windows smashed and the roof caving in. He gently pulled his arm away from me before scrambling up the fence like a kid climbing a tree then disappearing over the other side.

"Throw the bag over," he told me, "then come over."

I didn't even think that what I was doing was possibly illegal because I was just so surprised. Did he bring me out here to help him break in somewhere? I slipped the bag off of my shoulders and pushed it over the top of the fence; hearing it thump to the ground on the other side. It sounded like metal hitting the ground. I stepped up to the fence and I think Mr Lowman realised at the same time that I did that I wouldn't be able to reach the top to even try and climb over because he appeared back over and held out his hand. Without thinking, I reached up and took it so he could help me up until I was balanced on the top. There were splinters in my hands and I felt like I was going to fall. I don't know how he made this look so easy. Maybe he had a lot of practise.

"Oh my gosh," I gasped when I felt a piece of wood or a nail or whatever go into my pants and heard a ripping noise.

"What?" Mr Lowman hissed, dark eyes looking up at me in worry.

"These are my good butt jeans and now they're ripped! I'm gonna have to buy a new pair."

"The fuck are good butt jeans?" he asked with a confused frown.

"Jeans that make my butt look good, _obviously_. I'm stuck up here, can you help?"

"Your butt looks good anyway," he reached up to put his hands on my thigh to see if he could free me, "don't need jeans for that."

Mr Lowman had seen more of me than anyone had since I was born I think. I didn't mind because he wasn't weird about it but I understand that it was probably weird seeing your friend almost naked and dancing around. I also told him that he didn't need to only ask me for dances because there were loads of other girls that wanted to dance for him but he turned them down. The girls got really annoyed about that but I found it funny.

"Aw!" I cooed and put my hand over my heart with a massive smile; that was such a sweet thing to say, "Do you really think- _oh gosh_!"

He had obviously given up trying to get me down gently and just grabbed my arms to then pull me downwards; catching me so I didn't hurt myself before putting me on my feet gently and tugging the hood of my borrowed sweater up over my hair then doing the same with his. It hid his entire face and I couldn't help thinking he looked kind of like the skeleton man on the back of their jackets. When he raised his finger to where I pictured his lips would be I felt my heart thud in my chest. What were we doing? Was he forcing me to do illegal things? Mrs Chibs told me to be good.

"Mr Lowman…" I whispered, voice shaking and my eyes looking up at him with wide eyes.

"Trust me, ok?"

I nodded. I would always trust him.

He let me hug his arm again as he led me over to the house. It was disgusting and had obviously been abandoned for a really long time. There were smashed windows and shopping carts in the yard. I didn't understand why we were here. The door was already opened and when we stepped in Mr Lowman made me stand in the doorway while he went further on into the house. All I could see was the torchlight moving behind things and then disappearing into another room although there must have been a hole in some of the walls because I could still see flashes until one by one the rooms were lit up with small lantern things in the corners. When the whole bottom floor was dimly lit I could see how disgusting it really was in the house.

I squeaked and stepped back out into the yard and crossed my arms. Why would he take me to a place like this? He _knows_ how much I hate dirt and mess and bugs. When he appeared at the doorway his hood was down and he was smirking at me. I was so busy with starting to tell him off that I didn't notice the baseball bat in his hand until he held it out to me.

"What the heck?!" I exclaimed and slapped it away but I only hurt myself, "Are you going to murder me?"

"Come see," was all he said and gestured back into the house, "you'll have fun."

Now I was nervous _and_ curious but I'd be lying if I said the thought of doing something probably illegal wasn't exciting. I walked back in and found him in what looked like it used to be a living room. There was a ripped couch and chairs, coffee table and pictures on the wall. Mr Lowman passed me the bat and I took it.

"You need to let of steam," he told me and pointed to an ugly ornament on the coffee table.

I shook my head. I couldn't do that. I can't break something that wasn't mine. Even if it was mine I wouldn't break it. I gripped the handle of the bat tightly. I had never held one before and it was weird. Mr Lowman stepped back and folded his arms; watching me closely and patiently. I knew he wouldn't take me home until I at least hit the thing. I lifted the bat and weakly hit the ornament but it didn't break or crack, it just fell over with a dull thud.

"Mr Lowman-"

"Try. You'll feel better."

There wasn't even anything wrong with me though so I didn't understand. I took a deep breath, fixed my eyes on the item then swung down again but harder this time. When the bat hit the fake china it burst and shattered into pieces. I hated to admit that it felt good. Mr Lowman was smiling and nodding as he grabbed something else to put on the table. It was an old plate. I did it again and again as he gave me things to smash. When I was in the swing of it Mr Lowman left me to it and started smashing things of his own.

I was in my own world, swinging the bat at random things like the walls, the tables, the furniture and just everything I could find that I thought might be breakable. I didn't even care that it was illegal because it was fun. I made my way into the kitchen, breathing heavily and sweating as I heard Mr Lowman grunting and smashing things in another room. I thought the kitchen might have had more stuff to break. When I did though I saw two canisters on the floor, the same as the ones I used to destroy Mom's car, and the smell of petrol filled my nose. It was like they were waiting for me to see them. The excitement pulsed through my chest and I knew I couldn't just leave them. Throwing the bat aside, I pulled Mr Chibs' lighter from my sock. It was my favourite one; a heavy, zippo style with a skeleton man engraved on the side. I always made sure to keep it filled.

I grabbed the canisters and skipped into where I heard Mr Lowman having fun. When I appeared in the door I could feel the smile on my face. I was so excited I had forgotten he wasn't supposed to know I was crazy.

"Look what I found," I said to him, still panting and bouncing on my toes, "can we?"

"Have at it," he said, nodding and grinning at me.

Immediately I ran back into the living room to get started. Fabric burned quickly and well so I would start there. There was literally no point in starting in the kitchen. I poured just a small amount over the back of the furniture and along the arms. The lighter lit quickly, that's why I liked this one so much, and I stared at the flame just for a second before crouching next to the arm of the chair. It took instantly; spreading first over the arm, travelling up over the top and then down the other arm. I moved onto the couch then the other chair and just stood back to watch it. I loved that feeling; it was like relief as soon as I saw it, smelled the smoke and heard the crackling of the fire burning onto the wood of the furniture. I felt someone standing behind me but I didn't care because the flames were spreading over the back fully. There were hands on my arms, pulling me backwards but I fought them off. This was the second best part.

"I need to do more," I told Mr Lowman and picked up the other canister, "on the other side."

I walked through the smoke of the house, coughing slightly through the hall, to the temporarily clear air of what used to be a bedroom. Instead of burning the bed I stood up on it and threw the gas over the back wall and onto the ceiling. More smoke filled the air as I lit the corner of the comforter of the bed and watched it travel up the dry fabric and the floor before finally going to the wall. I was dragged backwards as the ceiling started burning and this time I let him. If I was alone I think I would have been hurt. The smoke started to hurt my eyes because I was watching wide eyed and excited.

I had never burned anything this big before and I wasn't sure how happy I would be with going back to burning trash cans and cars now. Maybe Mr Lowman would know about more buildings like this.

"We need to go Babe," he said in my ear, brushing the hair away from my neck gently.

I heard the sirens in the distance and I realised suddenly that there was nowhere that I could hide. When I was in the town I knew where all the dark doorways and alleys were that I could easily hide and watch but we were almost in the middle of nowhere. I nodded to him and took his hand as we walked quickly through the house to the back door. The living room was now completely engulfed which made me smile. Mr Lowman crouched on the ground next to the fence and laced his hands together. I knew this move from cheerleading. I put my hand on his shoulder and my foot in his hands. Just as easily as he had pulled me up to get in, he stood and lifted me so I could grab onto the top of the fence and pull myself over.

As I waited for him to join me on the ground I looked around and as the fire spread over the house and the lights from the approaching firefighters lit up the fence I saw the DANGER CONDEMNED: KEEP OUT sign on the outside. He took my hand again and pulled me away but once we were far enough away that we couldn't be seen but close enough to see what was happening I stopped; digging my heels into the dirt.

"Catherine-"

"This is the best part." I whispered, turning to look at my work, "Just until the cops come. Please."

His face was lit up with a faint orange light which made his eyes look so dark and his face so pretty. He looked over my face then nodded; stepping closer to me and joining me behind a dry, dead bush. I knelt on the ground and watched the firefighters shouting at each other and taking out the big hosepipe and working to put out the flames.

"The fire people don't look," I said over my shoulder where he was crouching behind me, "but the cops will. That's why we need to go before they come."

"This is the best part?" Mr Lowman asked quietly.

I nodded. It was hard to explain in actual words but I think that it was because I didn't really control anything in my life right now. I couldn't look after Jack, Mom or myself and I couldn't have stopped Daddy from dying even if I wanted too. I didn't have my own place to live or even my own room; I slept on a couch in someone else's house. Even my wages were decided by the men I danced for. But destroying things and making people work to stop whatever it was I did was satisfying and it made me feel powerful.

"Cops," he said, "we really need to go."

"Can we come back tomorrow?"

"Sure."

I nodded and stood up to run back through the desert then back onto the concrete. He gave me the bag back and it was a lot lighter than on the journey here. I didn't even think about climbing on the back of his motorcycle this time and just held onto him. As we drove down the street about 4 police cars went the other way and it made me smile. Mr Lowman had ducked his head down and I turned my face away from them, just in case.

(((((((())))))))

His house was dark when we went up the driveway and the dogs didn't even bark. Mrs Lowman must be asleep. On the short drive back I had time to realise that he knew my secret now but he didn't seem to care. He let me climb off first then just sat looking at me.

"Don't tell Mr Chibs," I whispered, looking down at the ground and kicking a stone with the toe of my sneaker, "because he's gonna be really angry."

"Promise," he nodded.

"You don't care I'm crazy? Like, you don't mind me staying in the house with your mom and stuff?"

"You care I killed a guy?"

I shook my head because I had gotten used to that now and I knew he was a good man. I thought about it a lot though and had decided that if he hadn't done that then he would never have met Mr Morrow and moved to Charming so I would never have met him.

"Then I don't care you're crazy. Come on. I'm tired."

I nodded and followed him up the drive and then into his dark house. The sound of two sets of paws on tiles came towards us and I said hello to our boys; asking if they had been good and if they were happy to see me. I think they were because Romeo's tail was wagging and Scrap's butt was wiggling where his tail should have been.

"Momma and Papi are finally home," I cooed quietly to them, "I know, I know, we were gone forever."

They sniffed the gas on my hands and the smoke on my clothes then sneezed and it was so cute. Mr Lowman led me through his house to his bathroom because I think he knew I would need a shower after just being in that house but now I had the smell of smoke in my hair and on my skin. He didn't have the hair problem. I watched closely while he showed me how to use it and then gave me a towel to use.

In the shower I washed the soot out of my hair and cleaned my skin using what I guessed was his shower gel so when I got out I smelled just like him. It was a nice, comforting smell. It was also kind of funny to picture him stood in the store choosing stuff like this; I don't think he really cares but he always smells the same so I guess he liked it enough to buy it over and over. Once dry and dressed in my shorts and tank top I padded into his bedroom. I had only ever seen it once before and remember it being plain and he didn't even have a lightbulb or lamp on his ceiling light. I felt like I should maybe help him redecorate.

"Better?" he asked when I sat on his bed and towelled my hair gently.

I yawned and nodded. He had been hovering in the corner of his room holding a pair of sweatpants and watching me until I held out the towel. He nodded in thanks then disappeared out and I heard the shower starting again. When I turned to look around I saw a fresh hot chocolate on his bedside table in a cute pink cup with flowers on it. It was the one I always used when I visited.

I had literally no idea what he was doing but he was in the shower forever. He didn't even have hair to wash. By the time he was out I had already finished my drink and already snuggled up under his blankets. The pillow next to the wall was really fluffy and comfy and had obviously never been used. It made me feel happy. As I started to fall asleep I heard the shower turn off and the door opening. I opened my eyes and smiled when I saw him stood in the doorway, still slightly wet from the shower, shirtless but holding the towel over his shoulders like a superhero cape. He looked just as beautiful as the first time I had seen his tattoos but now he had a scar on his stomach which made me feel guilty just looking at it.

"You took so long," I mumbled sleepily and reaching out to him, "I missed you."

Mr Lowman apologised quietly then stepped into the room fully but didn't shut the door so the dogs could come and go when they wanted.

"You're so pretty," I continued as he pulled his duvet over and got in bed, "it's not fair."

"Shut up," he chuckled and settled himself down before turning off his bedside lamp.

"I'm serious! You're the most beautiful man I have ever seen and I'm happy you're my bestest bestest friend. Even if you have killed someone."

"And you're an arsonist."

I hummed and nodded although I doubted he could see me in the dark.

"Not an arsonist though," I said and yawned, closing my eyes and snuggling in as I drifted off to sleep, "I looked it up on the internet. It's called, like, pie mania. Pie oh maniac. Pie…"

"Pyromaniac."

"Yeah. That's it. They say I should get help but I like it. I'm gonna show you my scrapbook because I worked, like, really hard on it and no one can see it."

I was talking about the scrapbook of different newspaper articles about the fires I had set and interviews with the townspeople. Everyone was nervous and people were scared their businesses would burn down but I would never ever burn down anyone's livelihood that they worked so hard on.

"Tomorrow," he said quietly.

I hummed in agreement again and fell quickly asleep when I felt his arm move and his hand in my still damp hair; he knew that it made me relaxed. I could kind of hear him saying something but my brain didn't take it in. I just assumed he was talking to the dogs.

(((((((())))))))

I was woken up really suddenly by the sound of my phone and Mr Lowman nudging me awake so I could answer it. I held out my hand so he could hand it to me but all I got was thin air.

"You're literally so annoying," I groaned and sat up so I could lean over him to get my phone from his bedside table, I squinted at the bright screen and saw it was Jack, "Hello? Jack? What time is it?"

I flopped back down to my side of the bed and closed my eyes again.

"It's like… 7am. Cat, can I ask you to do something?" Jack asked nervously and I nodded, "It's… it's the parent-teacher thing tonight and since Mom has gone AWOL… Can you come instead?"

I opened my eyes slowly and looked over to Mr Lowman to see that he was looking at me curiously. I nodded; letting him know that Jack was ok so he could stop worrying.

"Sure. What time is it?"

"Thanks," he breathed a sigh of relief, "I just… The teachers are really getting on my back because Mom and Dad didn't come to the last one and if no one comes to this one then I'm gonna get in shit. It's at 5 tonight. Is that ok? I can ask if they can change their times-"

"5's good. I'll be there, don't worry. Be good in school and I'll see you tonight, ok?"

"Thanks Cat. I'll see you later."

I said goodbye and hung up before yawning again. It was way too early to be awake. I gave Mr Lowman my phone to put back and rolled back over to go back to sleep but he wasn't going to let me.

"What was that? He ok?" He asked from behind me.

I basically told him the entire conversation and explained about how Mom has abandoned us so I was technically Jack's parent now. That's why I needed to get us a place where we could be together again. I know he was safe and happy with Aaron and his family but I wanted to make sure myself. Even though I spoke to him on the phone like every other day or whatever it wasn't the same as seeing him in person. Besides, I kind of missed living with him but I would never tell him that though; I needed to keep up the whole big sister thing.

Even after half an hour I still couldn't get back to sleep so I gave up. I hated waking up before I wanted too because I could never get to sleep afterwards and I think Mr Lowman was the same. He was being annoying today. He literally didn't move even though he knew I wanted to get out; he just lay there and watched me struggle. All I wanted was to get dressed.

"Can you just move? Stop being annoying."

He grabbed onto my ankle as I stood to step over him. He was smiling though which made me smile too. I liked it when he smiled; he was so pretty and it made him look a lot less scary.

"Fine," I laughed and sat back down to crawl over the end, "if I'm staying over more often then you're gonna have to move your bed away from the wall."

"Who says I want you back here?"

"You love me. Obviously you want me to stay over again."

He didn't say anything to that and just watched me rooting through my bag. I was used to him looking at me by now though. It was like I was his favourite thing to look at sometimes. I understood in the club and stuff when I was dressed up in my sparkly costumes, big shoes and looked pretty but when I was just in my pyjamas with messy hair and no makeup I didn't understand it. I also learnt not to look back at him because he got embarrassed that I caught him although he pretended not to be.

I greeted Mrs Lowman when I saw her on my way to the bathroom and she was going into the kitchen. She looked happy to see me. once I was wearing my normal, non-boyish clothes and heels I stepped back into Mr Lowman's room without thinking. I immediately wished I hadn't though because he was midway through getting dressed himself. He wasn't naked but he was definitely not fully dressed. I had never seen his legs before which was kind of a weird thought. Maybe I just assumed he just wore sweatpants under his jeans.

"Oh my God," I squeaked and jumped back; slamming the door shut, "I'm sorry."

I heard him laughing quietly but he didn't say anything. My face was all hot but I was frozen in the hall. I didn't want to go and talk to his mom while I was blushing because then she would ask me why but I couldn't just stand outside the door because then he would come out and see me. My feet shuffled and I just decided to go talk to his mom because I could always just say Mr Lowman embarrassed me or whatever.

"Are you hungry, _Princesa_?" Mrs Lowman asked, looking at my cheeks but not saying anything, "I have some pancakes. Happy says you like those."

"Please! I love them. They're, like, my favourite food right now. What do you have with them? I like syrup and blueberries."

Mrs Lowman shook the little container of blueberries at me then put it on the little dining table. I helped her to plate up the food because she was having trouble with holding the heavy looking pan. I put the pancakes on the plates and she decorated them. She made a smiley face with bacon on what I assumed was Mr Lowman's plate.

"He always liked this when he was a boy," she told me and chuckled, "he would always say, 'Look Mama, it's me!' He used to be cute, believe it or not."

"He was? I can't imagine him as a kid," I laughed and turned to put the food on the table but jumped and gasped when I saw Mr Lowman leaning in the doorway and looking between us with a smile, "He's being annoying today, Mrs Lowman. Tell him."

Mrs Lowman hit her son lightly with the folded towel she was holding and said something in Spanish to him which made him breathe out a laugh. I thought maybe I should learn Spanish because people would maybe hire me for jobs that weren't dancing if I knew another language. Maybe they could teach me.

"Are you sitting?" Mr Lowman asked and I realised I was just stood in the middle of his kitchen while I was thinking.

I put the food I was holding on the table and made sure that his pancakes were the right way around and he smiled down at them. He was still cute but I didn't want to say anything. Romeo came skipping in with Scrap behind him and sat at my feet; they knew I was the weakest one and couldn't resist sharing my food with them. Mr Lowman almost never shared his with the dogs.

"Do you want breakfast?" I asked them excitedly, in a high pitched voice, "Do you? Yes? Yes?!"

I laughed as the higher my voice got, the more excited they got and Scrap was shuffling on his front feet. I fussed him and then Romeo before standing to find the dog food cans in the bottom cabinet under the sink. I shared some out in different bowls and put them on the ground for them.

"Are you thinking about children, _Princesa_?" Mrs Lowman asked me and I looked around at her confused before she explained, "You are just so good with your boys. Maybe you would be a good mother."

"Oh… I don't know," I said vaguely and put the can in the trash then thinking better of it, washing it out and putting it in the recycling, "I haven't really thought about it since we moved here. When we lived in LA it was kinda expected, you know? Like, I was gonna marry a rich guy and have a baby and just be a housewife or whatever but I think I want something different now."

I shrugged. Daddy always said I would need to marry a rich man because I had expensive taste but he would maybe set me up with someone he knew so I didn't have to make any decisions. I never decided anything for myself back then but I'm way more independent in Charming and I preferred it. Mr Chibs was really good with that because he would let me talk at him about different things until I made my own decision; he never told me what to do but he did give me good advice. And he never told me he was going to set me up with one of his friends or business people either. He told me that he literally didn't care what I did as long as I was happy. I was happy by myself for now because I had good friends and Mr Lowman.

"And anyway," I continued and sat back down, "I'm gonna be living with Jack soon and that will be bad enough."

(((((((())))))))

We spent the entire day together and it was the best thing ever. On the way back to Mr Chibs' house we went to the condemned house so I could see it again. The feeling of going back and reliving it was almost as fun as doing it in the first place. There was loads of police tape around it but we just went under it and looked around. The living room was the worst; the furniture just looked like skeletons and there was a huge hole in the ceiling. I pointed out my favourite parts to him and he just kind of nodded and made agreeing noises but then showed me his favourite parts too. He liked the way the walls in the kitchen were almost all black with smoke except for under where the pictures and stuff were. When we were back home, Mr and Mrs Chibs were still in bed so I could show him my scrapbook and he was really impressed with it. I'm not sure if he was impressed with the articles or the decorations I put on all the pages. I'd like to think it was both. He really liked the page with the one about the fire outside the police station.

I was sad when he left though. I liked being with him; he made me happy and feel not crazy. Like, I could finally talk to someone about everything and he didn't judge me or tell me I needed to get help or whatever like the internet told me to do. I was just getting ready to start walking to the school when I heard the sound of a motorcycle outside. when I opened the door I saw him parking up where he had last night and looked at him confused.

"I can't go anywhere," I told him over the front yard, "I've got to go to the school."

"Yeah," he shrugged and slipped his backpack off his shoulders and pulling out the other helmet before holding it out to me, "get on."

I looked down at my pretty dress and high shoes. I wasn't sure how good of an idea it was.

"I'll come get you."

He went to stand up off of his seat which made me think of the way that he grabbed me last night and I was kind of tempted to be stubborn just so he could do it again but I was wearing a dress and I didn't want to show the whole neighbourhood my underwear. I shut the door behind me to go over to him.

"I'm wearing a dress, Mr Lowman," I said when I was closer, "and high heels. Last time I had warm clothes on."

"You look nice."

I blinked in surprise. He looked just as serious as he usually did but he had complimented me so much over the past two days. By so much I mean, like, twice. He moved forwards in his seat as if to make room for me to get on then started to take off his leather jacket and handed it to me before he unzipped the hoodie he had been wearing underneath it. I patiently waited to see what he was doing then was left holding his sweater.

"Put it on."

"Oh! Thanks."

The sweater was all warm and snuggly from when he was wearing it and I tried to climb on as gracefully as possible. It was harder to get comfy when I was trying to keep my dress from flying up and my feet kept slipping forwards on the pegs. I held onto his t-shirt as he drove towards the school. There were a lot of cars in the parking lot but it was easy to park a motorcycle. He helped me off again; holding both of my sweater covered hands while I swung my leg over. He also stood in front of me so no one could see up my skirt.

"Cat! Happy!" I heard Jack shout, "Over here!"

We looked over and I saw Jack stood with Aaron and Mrs Lawson. Ugh. I hated her. I waved and Jack jogged over to us. He hugged me which was a surprise but I laughed and hugged him back anyway.

"You look so cool. Can I have one of those sweaters?" He asked Mr Lowman who nodded with a smile, "Are you coming in too? I told my teachers you might."

"Jack-"

"Oh come on Cat, he's like my big brother now."

I saw the small smile turn slightly more kind and I couldn't say no. I nodded and waved to Aaron, ignoring Mrs Lawson, and followed Jack into the school to sign ourselves in. Some kids shouted over to Jack and I told him to go because we could find our own way around with the little map from the nice receptionist. There was a list of 7 teachers that we had to go and talk too, starting with his homeroom teacher.

I put the 'VISITOR' sticker on the middle of Mr Lowman's chest on his t-shirt and patting it for good measure. He was so solid.

"Ok," I said and looked at the map, "his homeroom is this way. Mr Grieveson. Let's go."

"After you."

I nodded and took his arm before turning to wave to Jack and his friends who had already been looking over. They all waved back enthusiastically which made me laugh. The school was a lot smaller than the one I went too and Jack's old one. Some of the things were slightly run down but the teachers seemed like they were trying their best with what they had.

There was someone already in the room so we had to wait outside. I bounced on my toes. I hadn't been in a high school since I left so I felt weird. I hated school because I wasn't very good at any of it except for gym, dance and music. All the main subjects were horrible and I failed almost all of them but I had high hopes for Jack because he's so clever.

When the other parents came out they looked at me weirdly then up to Mr Lowman with wide eyes. He didn't look like he cared though; he just tugged on one of the curls behind my head so it was stretched out before bouncing back to normal.

"Are you Mrs Duke-Dillinger?" Mr Grieveson asked me with a confused look over my borrowed hoodie and high heels, "For Jack?"

I didn't think my outfit was that bad today. I know the hoodie didn't match but I had it unzipped so you could see my nice dress underneath it. Then I realised why they were giving us weird looks. They thought we were Jack's parents.

"Miss," I corrected, "I'm Catherine, his sister, and this is Happy. He's a close friend."

"Oh! It's nice to meet you. I thought you looked a little young to have a 15 year old son. Where are your parents?"

I hesitated. I wasn't really sure what to say. I couldn't say that Daddy was dead and the last time I saw my mom was months ago in the hospital then she disappeared. I just told him that they had been away on business for a while but we didn't know when they would be back.

"We, myself and the other teachers, are just very concerned about Jack," the teacher said once we were sat down, "and his living situation. He's living with another student, if I recall? With Aaron Lawson and his family?"

"That's right," I nodded and shuffled in my seat, "yeah."

"Why is he not living at home with you?"

I felt like I was in trouble and even though I was a grown up and had been out of high school for a long time it was like I was having a meeting with one of my teachers. I didn't know what to tell him because I didn't want Jack to be taken away from me. I know that they would take him to a foster home or something if they found out our situation. They wouldn't care about me but there would be trouble for him. I didn't want him to be uprooted again and put in another new school and have to make more friends.

"Our house… um…"

"They got burgled and it was trashed," Mr Lowman said for me, putting his hand on mine that I hadn't even realised had been tugging and wringing the hem of my dress around, "so Jack lives there and Catherine lives with a friend. There's cops and shit in their house."

I looked at him in a way that I hoped was thankfully and then nodded at the teacher. I was so glad Mr Lowman came with me now.

"I'm so sorry! Jack never said anything- I just thought you were having trouble with him."

"No Sir. I'm looking for a new place for us both but it's hard to get somewhere close enough to the school and we have a dog so we need a yard and houses in this town are so expensive."

I held Mr Lowman's hand tightly instead of pulling on my dress and his thumb rubbed over the back of my hand gently. It was comforting. I didn't know it was going to be this stressful. I got grilled some more by this teacher then the time was up and I had to move on to the next teacher. When we were out of the classroom and the door had closed I went to hug Mr Lowman. I felt so stressed. my forehead was on the visitor sticker and my eyes were squeezed shut tightly. Being a parent was hard.

"It's ok," he mumbled to me, stroking the back of my head, "who's next?"

"Math teacher. It should be good. He's good at that."

I pulled back and got the map out again before leading him through the school. All the teachers said the same thing; he needed to do better. His grades had been dropping, his behaviour had gone down and he never did his homework. He had gotten really bad. Jack used to be a really good student but since moving here he had just started misbehaving and rebelling. I know it was because of the family stuff. I was just blaming myself and felt like a horrible big sister.

After the last meeting I felt deflated and sad. The teachers had given me armfuls of work that Jack had to catch up on. I needed to get a house and I decided that the next house that was in my budget would be the one that we moved into. I needed to watch him.

There was a small crowd gathered and kids cheering in the entrance hall when we went out to try and find Jack and when I saw who was in the middle of the circle my heart sank. He was in there with another boy, face covered in blood and hitting him angrily. He was shouting and screaming at him, things I couldn't hear over the shouting. I looked around and the parents were just looking on like they didn't know what to do even though there were two teenage boys trying to kill each other in front of them. Luckily though Mr Lowman was there because he didn't think twice. He barged through the circle of kids and took both boys by the back of their shirts; ripping them apart and pushing the boy Jack had been fighting with backwards. The crowd had gone silent as soon as he stepped into the circle then the whispers started.

 **Happy/3** **rd** **Person POV**

Jack was used to his friends having crushes on his sister and making comments about her. He knew she was pretty but what he had never had before was someone coming over to him and showing him a picture of his pretty sister wearing nothing but lingerie stuffed with money on a stage, kneeling down in front of men and smiling. She was barely recognisable but he knew it was her all the same.

"That's your sister?" Brian asked with a snort as Catherine and Happy disappeared down the hall, "I beat myself off to her every night, dude."

Jack saw the picture and then he saw red. He swung his fist and cracked the other boy square in the nose; making blood explode down his face. Brian wasn't as big as Jack and he wasn't as strong but he defended himself pretty well. People gathered around and, even though they didn't know what was going on, they cheered anyway. They were cheering for Jack because no one liked Brian and everyone liked Jack.

Before he knew it there was a strong hand on the back of his shirt and then on his chest and he saw Happy stood in front of him. He had his back to him because he had pushed the other boy roughly out of the way. When he turned to look at Jack he looked over him, as if checking he was alright, then looked down at the dropped phone with the picture of Catherine still on the screen. No one had seen it, the fight distracted everyone, and picked it up.

"Take him outside," Happy said to Aaron as he saw the angry tears building in the teenagers eyes; he knew Jack wouldn't want to cry in front of the people that had been cheering him on, "I'll finish it."

"Come on Jack," Aaron said to Jack gently, taking his arm and putting his arm over his shoulder, "let's go."

Happy turned back to the other boy. The look that he had probably thought was badass and tough had dropped instantly and he just looked like a kid. Happy held up the now dark phone.

"Who took it?" He asked and the boy whimpered, "Who?"

Brian knew who Happy was. The people who didn't know who he was knew he at least looked threatening and dangerous while he was stood there in his Sons of Anarchy kutte and pissed off expression.

"My- my dad. He saw her at the club and-"

Happy snapped the phone in half with his hands and handed the pieces back to the boy.

"You or your dad disrespect my girl like that again I'm gonna come for you, get it? Tell him. He ain't coming back to that club."

"I'm a _kid_ -"

"You think I care?"

Then there were gentle hands on his face and then pushing him backwards away from the boy. Happy kept his eyes fixed on the kid for a couple of seconds more before he looked down at Catherine's kind eyes and worried face.

"Jack's ok," she told him, nodding slightly, "don't worry. He's ok."

Happy nodded and put his hands on her upper arms as if to ground himself then let her lead him back through the crowd and outside. Jack was stood with his head on Aaron's shoulder and hugging him tightly. Catherine was holding his hand as they walked and he liked that. Jack looked up as they approached and nodded at Happy. Jack was going to tell Catherine about what happened.

"We're gonna take a walk to the diner," Catherine said to him, "if you wanna meet us there? I'm buying you boys dinner."

"Sure," Happy nodded, "I'll get the table. Four?"

He looked at Aaron to check if he was coming and nodded when Aaron did. Catherine smiled at him but she looked sad. She was a good big sister but the meetings and seeing her brother had made her feel bad, he knew it just by the way she looked so defeated after every teacher they saw. The things the teacher had said about Jack made him think of the way he was in school and the way Mama must have felt when she went to his parent-teacher conferences. If Jack kept going the way Happy had there would be trouble and it would break Catherine's heart. He was going to talk to some of the guys and maybe get him help.

"See you soon, ok? Thanks for coming in with me. I don't think I could have gone on my own," Catherine said gently and hugged him tightly.

He patted the back of her head and nodded. He would always be there for her when she went through difficult times. She pulled away from him and stepped back with her hands covered with his sweater. She looked cute in his clothes. It made him happy. He wanted her to wear his sweaters and shirts all the time.

"See you." Was all he said and turned to get on his Harley.

At the diner he grabbed _their_ table. The one they would sit at sometimes after she had done dancing at night or when they went for breakfast in the morning. It was the one on the corner next to the big windows because she liked to watch all the people walking by. He always liked to see her with that soft smile on her face and pointed out all the men she had seen at the club before. He didn't think she would be smiling much that night.

"Coffee?" The waitress asked with a fake smile.

Happy nodded and asked for two glasses of coke and a sparkling water with lemon for when the other people got there. When they arrived Catherine looked like she had been crying and Jack's face had cleaned up. She pointed over to where Happy was sat and went to the bathroom.

"So," Jack said when he and Aaron slid into the booth, "when are you gonna ask her out?"

"Like, for real," Aaron nodded solemnly.

Happy looked between them with narrow eyes. Him asking Catherine out wasn't the issue of the night. They were here to get Jack back on the behavioural straight and narrow.

"You're basically together anyway. The only thing you're not doing is fucking."

He was about to tell Jack off for talking about his big sister like that after he had just got into a fight when another boy had been just as vulgar about her when Catherine slipped into the booth beside him and sipped her drink. The truth was that Happy thought about fucking her more than he would care to admit. It was especially bad the night before. The look of excitement and glee on her face as she watched the fire she had set swallowing the house was almost more than he could deal with. But when they went back to his house and she was so casual and comfortable. Even the way she sat on the edge of his bed, towelling her hair dry in her damp, slightly see through tank top was sexy to him. Her butt looked great in the shorts she wore to bed and he couldn't help staring at it whenever she wore them.

"I just want you to do well, Jack," Catherine sighed finally and rested her elbows on the table, "you're so smart. I don't want you to waste it."

"It's just… with everything that's happened, you know?"

"I'm sorry I've not been there. But from now on we're gonna meet up every night and I'm gonna watch you do your homework until we get a house. ok?"

"So you're gonna help me do it?" Jack asked.

"You know I can't help you," Catherine said and rolled her eyes as she sat back then crossing her legs; making the skirt of her dress ride up her thighs. Happy couldn't stop his eyes from drifting downwards, "I'm not good at that stuff."

Aaron had caught Happy looking but he wasn't embarrassed, even when the kid folded his arms and raised an eyebrow at him. Happy just smirked as the waitress came back over to take their food orders. Everyone but Catherine ordered the double beef burgers and cheese. She had cheese fries instead.

"Mr Chibs might help," Catherine continued, "and I heard that Mr Elvis is good with Math."

She was so fucking adorable when she got confused. Catherine had refused to learn Bobby's name for a really long time but when she heard someone call him Bobby Elvis she got excited; she liked to sing Elvis songs, and thought that it was his real name. She wouldn't admit to liking him but she wasn't as nasty to him as she had been in the past. She always said that Kozik was her favourite but Happy knew it was him really.

"Or maybe Tara! She's a doctor so she's, like, really, really smart. Right, Mr Lowman?"

Happy nodded but he wasn't sure if any of the guys would be willing to help them. Chibs, like Happy, was too far gone to distance himself now and it was uncertain if he could even if he had the opportunity. It was no secret the he used Catherine as a substitute for his own daughter and he genuinely cared about her. He had discussed her ties to the mafia in New York with Happy at length and they were both in agreement that she had no idea about it. Catherine was sweet and kind and highly protective of the people that she loved if the way she faced down Clay while Happy was in the hospital was anything to go by. Chibs had also brought up the way she had attacked _him_ when he was fixing Jack up after Jerry had hurt him.

They would be just fine if anyone was to come for them.

(((((((())))))))

 **Everyone for Happy indulging Catherine's need for setting fires say "aye" –** AYE! A nice long chapter for everyone today! I hope you enjoy it!

Did we notice that she referred to Happy as something other than her friend? What do we think to that? And Happy putting pillion pegs on his Harley just for her? Adorable if I do say so myself.

And can we talk about Catherine's psycho-fire scrapbook? Cute and scary!

Anyway. See you in the next one and I'll see you on the flib side.

Love always, Doe xxxx


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